Credit Union Times Magazine March 7, 2012

Lack of Board Diversity May Hinder Growth, Study Finds

By Michelle A. Samaad

A visitor sitting in on a typical credit union board meeting is likely to see 61-year-old white males who have served for more than a decade and are planning to continue their service for many years to come.

Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Slated to Downsize

By David Morrison

The Federal Housing Finance Agency, the federal regulator and conservator of government-sponsored mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, has delivered a strategic plan for the two that envisions them becoming smaller and less relevant to the secondary mortgage market.

Twitter Bombs at Some Credit Unions

By Michelle A. Samaad

After struggling to attract followers, some credit unions have given up on Twitter and are shutting down their accounts.

Account Switching Greased by Concierge at Texas Trust

By Michelle A. Samaad

For the 66% of account holders who would consider switching their financial institutions if the move wasn’t so painful, Texas Trust Credit Union said it has a plan to make the entire process easier and faster.

Safety Lures More Consumers to CUs

By Michelle A. Samaad

Back in 2009, voters’ views on the safety and soundness of credit unions and banks were nearly even.

California CUs: The Calm After the Storm

By Natasha Chilingerian

The Golden State’s credit unions may be nearing the end of their long journey to recovery. According to the California and Nevada Credit Union Leagues, California CUs made progress in 2011 in the areas of net income, net worth ratios, membership growth and loan performance.

Bankers Dip Into Business Lending Pool

By Michelle A. Samaad

Encouraged by signs that the recovery may be gaining traction, some bankers said they are planning to increase their small business lending efforts this year.

Wellness Drive Gets Boost From Reality Star

By Myriam DiGiovanni

UT Federal Credit Union staffers are a few steps closer to getting healthier.

Connexus Gains Two Wis. CUs

By Jim Rubenstein

The $360 million Connexus Credit Union is carving out a special merger path in its central Wisconsin hometown by consolidating two of its smaller competitors.

Are CUs Behind the Tech Evolutionary 8 Ball?

By Sarah Snell Cooke

The dinosaurs didn’t have the brains or the tools to see it coming, but credit unions do. Fiserv’s Mark Sievewright discussed ISIS among other threats to credit unions last week at the New Jersey Credit Union Leagues’ Reality Check.

Reality Check: Time to Wake and Smell the Digital

By Robert McGarvey

The message Fiserv executive Mark Sievewright delivered last week at the New Jersey Credit Union League's annual Reality Check Conference in Atlantic City, N.J., was loud and succinct: We are hip-deep in the digital era and, ready or not, the bits and bytes are rising fast. There is no real...

Reality Check: Cheney Outlines Industry Challenges

By Robert McGarvey

The New Jersey Credit Union League's Reality Check Conference last week in Atlantic City, N.J., gave attendees a fast overview of what's hot and what's not in Washington, compliments of lunch speaker Bill Cheney, CEO of CUNA.

Cooperative Trust: Education Benefits Everyone

Before attracting younger members, you need to educate them on why they should join your credit union, which was one of the main goals for 2012 at my credit union.

Guest Opinion: Time to Get Back to Basics

From the Durbin amendment to Reg E, recent regulatory developments have financial institution executives seeking new sources of revenue. However, instead of embarking on the quest, financial services industry executives should look to return to the basic fundamentals and focus on interest income, the most important revenue component for...

Guest Opinion: Think Like a Business Owner

I was recently asked what I think credit union marketers and business development people should rethink and do differently. While I’m known for being full of answers to that question, the truth of the matter is that many credit union marketers actually do a lot of things very well.

Jeanne D’Arc CU Turns 100

In honor of its 100th anniversary, Jeanne D’Arc Credit Union of Lowell, Mass., surprised members recently by serving cupcakes and handing out T-shirts at its six full-service branches.

Mountain America Honored by SBA

Mountain America Credit Union was honored recently with two awards from the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Utah District–the 2011 Lender of the Year and the 2011 Blaine Andrus Memorial Award.

NAFCU Marketing Awards

NAFCU recently announced the 16 winners in its 2012 marketing awards competition. The winners will be honored in conjunction with NAFCU’s 2012 Strategic Growth Conference at FireSky Resort and Spa in Scottsdale, Ariz., March 13-15.

Whitefish CU Forms a Junior Board

Seven Whitefish High School students may have just become the most influential teenagers in northwest Montana after being selected by WHS from among 232 of their peers to become the first members of Whitefish Credit Union’s inaugural junior board of directors.

CUSOs Are NAFCU Webinar Top

To help credit unions prepare for any potential changes that may come from the NCUA’s proposed CUSO rule revisions, NAFCU will host a March 7 webcast.

CO-OP Wins Lockheed FCU

The 107,000-member, $3.2 billion Lockheed FCU has signed on with CO-OP Financial Services for credit card processing.

CU Exec Attends CFPB Meeting

Robert Allen, CEO of the 218,000-member, $4 billion Teachers Federal Credit Union, joined executives from Citibank, Bank of America and other banks to tell the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau how his CU and CUs in general handle checking accounts and overdraft protections.

Marketing Put to the Test in Post-Recession World

By Myriam DiGiovanni

With the economy creating new norms, marketing departments have had to adapt accordingly.

Desert Schools to Deploy Pay Processing

TransFirst LLC of Hauppauge, N.Y., said the $2.9 billion Desert Schools Federal Credit Union in Phoenix plans to deploy the company’s Web-based centralized payment processing system.

Corporate Network eCom Now Part of CO-OP

The electronic bill pay operation of Corporate Network eCom LLC is now part of CO-OP Financial Services.

Katahdin FCU to Convert to Synergent

Synergent Technology Services said it will be converting the $69 million Katahdin FCU in Millinocket, Maine, to the Symitar Episys core processing platform through its service bureau.

CoVantage Launches Mobile

Tyfone Inc. said the $944 million CoVantage Credit Union in Antigo, Wis., has launched mobile banking using the Portland, Ore., company’s mobile wallet services.

Lafayette Schools’ FCU to Offer Mobile

The 14,800 members of the $140 million Lafayette Schools’ Federal Credit Union in Lafayette, La., will be offered mobile banking technology from MShift Inc. through Card Services for Credit Unions , the companies and credit union said.

Catalyst Adds Mobile

Mobile banking is the latest offering from Catalyst Corporate Credit Union.

Oregon CU Signs eDOC

The $67 million IBEW & United Workers Federal Credit Union in Portland, Ore., has replaced its Check21 solution with eDOC Innovations’ CheckLogic suite, the company and credit union said.

VSoft Lands First City

VSoft Corp. said it has landed the Check 21 business at the $463 million First City Credit Union in Los Angeles.

KeyStone Goes Live at Three CUs

Three credit unions went live in 2011 on the KeyStone core processing system from Corelation Inc., the San Diego startup said.

NCR Buys Stake in uGenius

uGenius Technology LLC of Sandy, Utah, a manufacturer of video banking solutions, is now partially owned by NCR.

People in the News

By Andrew Corselli