Credit Union Times Magazine March 23, 2011

Becker: Take a Hard Look At Your Business Model

By Sarah Snell Cooke

Stand-Alone Western Bridge Corporate Credit Union

By Robert McGarvey

The Western States Corporate Realignment Task Force, formed to help decide the fate of Western Bridge Corporate Credit Union, issued its report and recommendations about how to go forward in reconstructing the corporate FCU.

Awaiting Impact of NCUA's Executive Compensation Rules

By Claude R. Marx

Hurry up and wait. That’s what credit union leaders and compensation experts are doing as they await the final rules from the NCUA and other regulators on incentive-based compensation.

Bids for Delay of Durbin Amendment in Congress

By Claude R. Marx

Credit unions and other opponents of the Federal Reserve’s proposed rule capping debit interchange fees received good news last week when bills to delay the rule’s implementation were introduced in the Senate and House.

Credit Union CEOs Ask Congress to Overhaul the NCUA

By Jim Rubenstein

The attack on NCUA policies spearheaded last December in a petition drive by a Michigan CUSO group entered a new phase last week when a Tennessee group joined the fray.

N.M. Credit Unions Exit State League

By Jim Rubenstein

The disaffiliation headache continued for CUNA this month with two large Albuquerque credit unions departing from the trade group and the Credit Union Association of New Mexico.

Interchange Paradox: Cap May Spur More Transactions

By David Morrison

An expert in consumer behavior with checking accounts and debit cards has predicted that a proposed cap on debit interchange might, in the end, lead to more debit card transactions.

Niche Helps Cross Valley FCU Form Alliances Banks Shun

By Michelle A. Samaad

The member looking for a $30,000 line of credit or financing for a delivery truck–that’s the kind of small business owner Cross Valley FCU is actively courting.

Brooklyn CU Gets Its Piggymojo On for Savings Innovation

By David Morrison

The $11 million Brooklyn Cooperative FCU has received a $300,000 grant from the Center for Financial Services Innovation to help develop the financial institution interface for a social network savings program.

Patelco Touts ‘Bank on Trust’ to Build Profile

The $3.7 billion Patelco Credit Union is determined to make the most out of its 75th anniversary and a headquarters relocation out of San Francisco by conducting a marketing blitz aimed at enlarging its Bay Area profile.

Young Credit Union Execs Build on GAC Experience

By Myriam DiGiovanni

The Crashers are out to do more than just shake up the status quo–they have real plans aimed at helping credit unions.

Credit Unions Lend a Helping Hand to Ravaged Japan

By Myriam DiGiovanni, Jim Rubenstein

When Japan was rocked by the 9.0 earthquake and subsequent tsunami on March 11,

Retirement Toolkit Builds Benefits for A+FCU

By Michelle A. Samaad

A+ Federal Credit Union recently saw more evidence behind the power of marketing, especially to a demographic such as baby boomers with millions of them set to retire this year.

Development Funds Jump Start Microlending at Louisiana CU

By David Morrison

The $87 million Shreveport Federal Credit Union has used the long-term funding it received from the U.S. Treasury's Community Development Capital Initiative to grow its portfolio of very small business loans.

Silver State Schools Credit Union Cuts Loss

By Jim Rubenstein

The delay in reporting year-end results was far longer than expected, but the privately insured $718 million Silver State Schools Credit Union of Las Vegas managed to trim its year-ago losses by better than half to $21.4 million, though the CU still remained in a class as one of the...

Time for Sowing Seeds and Spring Cleaning

By Sarah Snell Cooke

As the temperatures across much of America rise to spring-like highs, many people turn their thoughts to planting and weeding their vegetable patch and cleaning and airing out their homes after a secluded winter.

In These Times, How Do You Ensure Great Member Service?

This is the first edition of a new Credit Union Times feature, Vox Populi. We pose a question, and industry executives sound off on a timely topic.

Sad to Say, Many Boomers Can’t Afford to Retire

Unfortunately, 40% of the 78 million baby boomers haven’t saved enough to meet basic expenditures in retirement, according to the Employee Benefits Research Institute.

We Can Help Young People Learn to Save

When we say that credit unions offer consumers better deals on loans and savings, we have the numbers to prove it.

What Can Be Learned From the Crisis?

The world as we know it is in a continuous state of change for credit union directors.

Budget Buddies Helps Low-Income Women Pull Out of Poverty

The inaugural graduating class of Budget Buddies, a nonprofit organization that provides low-income women with innovative financial training to help move them out of poverty, received their diplomas earlier this month at Jeanne D’Arc Credit Union’s headquarters in Lowell, Mass.

The Disclosures Rock the Credit Union Difference

The Disclosures’ first album proves that credit unions have a lot to sing about.

LGFCU Invests in N.C. Economic Development

Local Government Federal Credit Union has demonstrated its commitment to community development with a $1.625 million gift.

Consumers' Attitudes Show Improvement

Consumer Reports said that consumer attitudes measured across five of its opinion indexes are significantly higher than they have been.

Vantage Credit Union's Challenge Voting

That started as a simple request has become quite the competition, and now Vantage Credit Union’s Young & Free Show Me Challenge has been turned over to the public.

Processing Slows Foreclosures

RealtyTrac, a leading source of data about U.S. real estate foreclosures, has reported the numbers of properties in some stage of foreclosure dropped significantly in February, but not because the foreclosure problem is lessening.

Young & Free Rolls Into Michigan

Michigan First Credit Union has joined the growing Young & Free family.

Latino Community Credit Union Asks: What's Your Savings Story?

Latino Community Credit Union has got teens talking about their financial plans again with the launch of “What’s Your Savings Story?”

N.H. CU Offers Person Financial Management, iPhone Apps

iPhone mobile banking apps and a personal financial management solution are new offerings from the $1.8 billion Service Credit Union in Portsmouth, N.H.

WikiLeaks Has Prompted Little Change in Security, Survey Says

A vendor at a major security conference in February found that the massive WikiLeaks document dump prompted conversation but not much else.

Fiserv E-Billing

Millions of consumers in New York and New England can now receive their power bills online through the e-bill distribution service from Fiserv Inc., if their financial institution is one of the more than 3,000 on the Fiserv bill-pay network.

Share One Signs Five Credit Unions

A Memphis, Tenn. core processing CUSO said it will be converting five more credit unions to its platform in 2011 and handling the system conversions created by six mergers involving two current clients.

Dwolla P2P Lands First Credit Union

The $95 million Premier Credit Union in Des Moines, Iowa, is the first customer to commit to using the new person-to-person payments platform from hometown startup Dwolla.