Credit Union Times Magazine September 5, 2012

ROA in Washington State Proves to Be Evergreen

By Candice Reed

Washington credit unions took a hit to capital during the corporate credit union and financial crisis like everyone else, but it hit them harder because they had lower aggregate capital to begin with. Thankfully, the aptly named Evergreen State credit unions also have return on assets that has remained higher...

Auto Lending Portfolios Want to Grow

By Michelle A. Samaad

Jim Adamczyk can remember receiving an increase in calls from banks interested in FAIRWINDS Credit Union’s auto loan portfolio. That was as recent as 2010, said Adamczyk, executive vice president of lending, for the $1.7 billion cooperative in Orlando, Fla.

Republican Convention Seats Two CU CEOs

By Heather Anderson

Credit union events at the Republican National Convention happened outside the walls of the Tampa Bay Times Forum last week, but two credit union CEOs were among those inside the convention, listening to the speeches and roll call.

Newest Credit Union Backed by Internet Pioneer

By David Morrison

An Internet trailblazer and former banking executive are the unusual pair behind the chartering and eventual launch of the newest federal credit union.

Affinity Plus FCU Branch Redesign Raises the Bar

By Natasha Chilingerian

While many credit unions are making investments to improve the quality of their virtual member interactions, Affinity Plus Federal Credit Union is placing an emphasis on old fashioned, face-to-face communication.

Cloud Loan Processing Called a ‘Game Changer’

By Peter Strozniak

Time is money, and entrepreneurs never seem to have enough of both. This is particularly true for small business owners who can spend hours filling out a tsunami of documents to apply for government-backed loans. And when the exhaustive paperwork finally plods through an esoteric loan processing system, all small business...

Cooke Named Publisher of Credit Union Times

Summit Business Media announced last week that Credit Union Times Editor-in-Chief Sarah Snell Cooke has been promoted to publisher/editor-in-chief.

Directors Gain New Rules of the Road From Consultants

By Eileen Courter

Consultants seem to agree that governing a credit union has become more daunting. And the trend toward greater board accountability isn’t likely to go away.

Annaloro to Retire From Northwest League

By Jim Rubenstein

The Northwest Credit Union Association made it official last week. Its veteran CEO John Annaloro is retiring Oct. 2. He will be succeeded by Troy Stang, the president of the trade group that resulted from the merger of the Oregon and Washington leagues in 2011 and includes members from Alaska.

CUaware Aids Young CU Professionals

By Myrian DiGiovanni

Young professionals across North Carolina have been learning more about credit union history one meet-up at a time, courtesy of CUaware.

Obamacare Prompts Employers to Offer Perks

By Michelle A. Samaad

From asking employees to pay a greater portion of premiums to offering incentives for healthy lifestyles, some of the country’s largest employers are using a number of cost control measures to counter the expected rise in health care benefits in 2013.

Truliant Insists on Single-Minded Focus on Member Service

By Jim Rubenstein

The board and management at Truliant Federal Credit Union often talk about meeting Truliant’s top priority: improving the financial well-being of 190,000 members.

Editor’s Column: Credit Unions’ True Colors Bleed Through

By Sarah Snell Cooke

As Credit Union Times was going to press last week, Hurricane Isaac was bearing down on the Mississippi Gulf area. We are hopeful that credit unions and their employees stay hunkered down and safe through this stressful time. Like the rest of the country, we’re awaiting reports back from colleagues,...

Guest Opinion: Multi-Featured Lending Not Complicated

By Catherine Klimek

Multi-featured lending has been a hot topic since changes to Reg Z’s open-end rules were announced in 2009. The most recent development is the NCUA’s July 2012 letter to federal credit unions, 12-FCU-02, and accompanying supervisory letter to examiners.

Cooperative Trust: How You Say It As Important as What

By Jayson Peters

I hear it a lot. As an I.T. guy, it’s easy to see how tech-speak can turn even a highly educated executive into any other befuddled end-user. If someone’s not familiar with what you do, the terms used to describe your work might be useless or, even worse, cause more...

Guest Opinion: Congress Must Act to Boost Recovery

By Troy Stang

Congress has two opportunities this year to reach back to the Main Street voters who elected them. Neither costs taxpayers a dime. Two bills would enable credit unions to provide affordable capital to consumers and to small businesses. It makes sense, then, for Congress to act this year to enact...

SafeAmerica Appoints Barry Roach CEO

SafeAmerica Credit Union Board announced that Barry Roach will be its new president/CEO. Roach was previously the vice president of retail delivery at Meriwest Credit Union, based in San Jose, Calif.

Northwest FCU Names Chris McDonald CEO

Northwest Federal Credit Union announced the selection of Chris McDonald as the successor CEO to Gerrianne D. Burks, who will retire in mid January after a 41-year career at the Herdon, Va., credit union.

Neighborhood Mortgage Taps Wischmeyer for CEO

Neighborhood Mortgage Solutions LLC announced the appoint of Greg Wischmeyer as CEO. Wischmeyer comes to NMS with over 30 years of experience in the lending market. He will lead a team of mortgage professionals from the CUSO’s home office located in Frankenmuth, Mich.

Big Ticket Card From Coastal FCU

By David Morrison

Coastal Federal Credit Union has launched a credit card aimed at helping members finance purchases of big ticket items such as appliances and furniture.

IRS Advice on Tax-Exemption Snafu

Credit unions that received a notice from the IRS informing them that their tax-exempt status had been revoked due to improper filing now have specific instructions on how to have it restored.

Voter Guide Offered by N.Y. League

The Credit Union Association of New York has created an online resource center to assist credit union professionals, volunteers and members in identifying candidates that are and have been supportive of credit union issues.

In Memoriam: Volunteer Donald Gallant

Catholic Federal Credit Union, Saginaw, Mich., lost its longest serving volunteer when Donald Gallant passed away Aug. 19. Gallant served on Catholic Federal’s board of directors from Nov. 7, 1969 until his death. He served as chairman, vice-chairman, treasurer and secretary. For all of his years of volunteer service, the...

Turning Big Data Into Big Dollars to Grow Revenue

By Robert McGarvey

Big data may be the phrase of the moment in marketing but, for some credit unions, it is already plumping up the bottom line.

Cloud Computing Meets Credit Union Skeptics

By Robert McGarvey

The puzzlement on the part of some experts is thick. At the very time when some companies and community banks are rushing to put more of their data and applications into the cloud, some experts have noticed that, for the most part, credit unions are staying on the sidelines of...

American Eagle FCU's Platform Boosts Online Banking

By Natasha Chilingerian

Using two separate platforms for online banking and electronic bill pay services led to unnecessary hassles for the $1.3 billion American Eagle Federal Credit Union.

Guest Opinion: Thwarting Cyber Attacks

By Kevin Hamel

Financial institutions around the world were recently frightened again by news of a massive attack that siphoned nearly $2.5 billion from commercial accounts held at multiple financial institutions in the U.S., Europe and Latin America.

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