News
In Other News
Community Educators Credit Union, Rockledge, Fla., has awarded 10 high school seniors with scholarships to attend Brevard Community College. Awards are based on the recommendation of the high school principal. Good performance during the initial semester at BCC warrants renewal of the payment during the second semester. CECU has $130 million in assets and serves 28,535 members.
OSU Federal Credit Union, Corvallis, Ore., has awarded Brianna Klein with the $1,000 Tomorrow's Leaders Today Scholarship for teens. Applicants were required to write an essay, be a full time high school student and an active OSFCU member with a TLT checking account for at least six months....
Texas Credit Union League, Dallas, has named San Antonio Teachers Credit Union President/CEO Leon Ewing Professional of the Year and El Paso Bell Federal Credit Union Director Robert C. Peterson Volunteer of the Year. In addition, 27 year credit union veteran Bessie Heard has been inducted into TCUL's Hall of Fame. Awards were handed out during TCUL's 66th Annual Meeting and Convention.
Valley Credit Union, San Jose, Calif., has been named to the "50 Best Places to Work" list by San Jose Magazine, the lifestyle/city magazine for Silicon Valley. Local employers were rated on standard benefits and exceptional perks. According to Deborah K. Sallen, VCU vice president of human resources, the credit union's family-oriented environment, focus on diversity, and quality of life benefits package are just a few of the reasons why VCU has been included on the list.
Southwest Business Corporation, San Antonio, a provider of investment, mortgage and insurance services, has been ranked as the 29th largest privately held company in San Antonio by the San Antonio Business Journal.
Wisconsin Credit Union League, Pewaukee, the state's credit union trade association, has been awarded two Paragon Awards from the Public Relations Society of America for its multi-media advertising and public relations campaign backing an anti-bankruptcy alliance with Consumer Credit Counseling Services. The awards honor creative and strategic excellence in public relations....
Point Loma Credit Union, San Diego, has recently welcomed its 50,000th member. To thank Benjamin G. Williams for helping PLCU reach this milestone, the credit union presented him with a $500 deposit to his PLCU share savings account.
Tennessee Teachers Credit Union, Nashville, has celebrated its 50th anniversary. Among the oldest financial institutions in Middle Tennessee, TTCU has $150,000 million in assets and serves over 32,000 members.
General Electric Employees Federal Credit Union, Milford, Conn., is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year. A special "Member Appreciation Night" will be held at a Bridgeport Bluefish baseball game in August to commemorate the occasion. GEEFCU has $62.5 million in assets and serves 22,000 members.
Los Angeles Fireman's Credit Union is celebrating its 65th anniversary this year. In addition, LAFCU has reached $400 million in assets. LAFCU serves 16,900 members.
TNB Card Services, Dallas, a provider of card processing products and services, has celebrated its 25th year of credit union ownership at the Texas Credit Union League's Annual Convention. TNB was the first card processor for credit unions in the nation. TNB is now the third largest card processor for credit unions in the country.
Merck Sharp & Dohme Federal Credit Union, West Point, Pa., has recently celebrated its 50th anniversary. MSDFCU has $150 million in assets and serves 18,000 members. In addition, MSDFCU has awarded a total of $24,000 to eight graduating high school seniors. The Hoffman Award is based on those students who display success in academics and exemplify the credit union philosophy of "people helping people" through their community activities. This year's winners received a cash award of $3,000 each.
EPL, Birmingham, Ala., a provider of integrated data processing solutions and technology, has celebrated the 20 year anniversary of three employees by hosting a luncheon and awards presentation. Danny Crowley, director of operations; Steve Wilkinson, vice president of development; and Steve Chambers, senior programmer were honored for their fine workmanship, company loyalty and integrity....
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - E-commerce will be one of the focal points of credit union data processor EPL's annual users conference.
The conference, entitled "e-IMAGINATION 2000" will look at how credit unions can e-deliver products and services to members and utilize biometrics in unmanned branches.
The conference will be held in St. Pete Beach, Fla. from June 7 to 10. For more information pgentile@cutimes.com...
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Electronic bill payment and presentment is often referred to as the "paperless round-trip" for consumers. Denali Alaskan FCU is trying to ride that round-trip into a successful bill payment/presentment CUSO.
Electronic bill payment and presentment hasn't caught on in the financial sector as fast as the other online solutions (Internet banking, lending, brokerage, etc.), but analysts say EBPP could take off as large companies look to improve their bottomlines.
Basically, EBPP involves presenting a consumer's bills electronically, and then providing the means to pay the bills electronically.
According to bill pay giant CheckFree, Atlanta, U.S. businesses send or receive some 26 billion bills, account statements and payments a year. The U.S. Postal Service said it costs these business about $17 billion just in postage to mail these items.
When printing is factored in the average price of a paper bill can cost anywhere from 85 cents to $1.50.
By comparison, estimates for paying, sending and receiving bills via EBPP max out at about 57 cents per bill, and it can be much less. Businesses could cut their costs by one-third or more using EBPP, saving millions of dollars a year collectively, according to CheckFree's estimates.
Denali is looking to get in on EBPP early through its SpeedBill.com CUSO.
The credit union is now trying to convince its large SEGs, which print thousands of bills a year, such as phone company Alaska Communications Systems, that they can save a lot of money using EBPP.
While it's a high-tech solution, it isn't difficult for the billers to convert to EBPP, said Keith Fernandez, marketing director at Denali Alaskan FCU.
"We accept the billers' print stream exactly as if it was going to the printer. Nothing changes on that end. Instead of paper, we convert the print stream into digital bill images."
Once the SpeedBill.com server converts the biller's print stream into digital images, it e-mails the data to what is basically an electronic post office, known as PaySense.
The consumer then receives an e-mail indicating that they have a bill waiting for them in their electronic PaySense mail box. The user uses free bill software to pick up their bills.
The user can then review their bills and make payments. Once the bill is picked up from the mail box it is automatically deleted from PaySense.
The SpeedBill.com server sends the payments from the user's bank or credit union account and then updates the user's bill records on the biller's host server.
Despite all of the different players interacting electronically, security is tight, said Fernandez. One of the reasons is the limited use of the Web.
SpeedBill e-mails users their bills for them to retrieve on their own. The bills are not stored on a Web site like many other EBPP providers. Not warehousing the bills after delivery makes PaySense a less attractive target for hackers, said Fernandez.
Users can import the bill information into Quicken or Money to manage them from their PC, not a Web site, said Fernandez. That's key, he said hackers want account data to go after.
When customers of a biller that uses SpeedBill.com sign up for the service, the biller will no longer mail them paper bills-that's where the cost savings comes in. Of course users can also print a version of the electronic bill if they want a hard copy, said Fernandez.
Getting billers to convert to EBPP is the first part of the challenge. Next a large number of the biller's customers have to be enticed by EBPP if the biller is going to save significant printing and postage costs, said Fernandez.
Fernandez said that might be easier to do in Alaska than in other states because about 70% of Alaska residents are on the Net.
"There's tremendous adoption of Internet and electronic delivery in Alaska. One reason is that Alaska is so spread out. If you can do business via the PC, there's great convenience there," said Fernandez. He also said the weather can limit people's movements out of their homes, so the Web can give Alaskans some electronic movement via the Web.
Fernandez admitted that from earlier talks with other credit unions, he's not so sure credit unions are ready to become early adopters of EBPP.
"I don't think credit unions are thinking about it yet," he said.
-...
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. - Member Emporium partnered with Myway.com in late February of this year to offer CU members a portal product.
Member Emporium is the e-commerce division of credit union Internet solutions provider cavion.com.
The Member Emporium Personal Start Page Portal is chock full of news, stock quotes, search engines, calendars and other portal-like content features.
It is set up to block competitive advertising, and each credit union can personalize it based on their localities, interests and member preferences.
But transaction power is one of the strengths of Member Emporium, said cavion.com CEO Dave Selina.
Member Emporium partnered with Stockwalk.com to offer members online brokerage services. Credit unions are not providing the service but they can stay in front of the members by co-branding it. They can also promote other CU products while members are using the brokerage component.
Member Emporium online features include Internet banking, bill pay, lending, and auto buying.
Credit unions can offer ISP service through the portal, as well as free e-mail. Selina said cavion.com has also been able to set up a number of deep discount relationships with popular companies.
"Member Emporium offers everything from retail Internet service, to goods and insurance. The difference I think is that Member Emporium is driving substantial discount back to the consumer. Someone who wants to buy a $100 pair of shoes from Rockport, can get them at almost a 30% cheaper price through us," said Selina.
In some cases cavion.com has gone directly to vendors to get these deep discounts, but it also works with aggregators who can offer discounts on products from a number of companies.
"The plan is to make it part of the credit union. Members can log in through their credit union's home page or via the Net banking system. We do ad blocking. We don't put bank credit card ads out there. Obviously there's a lot of revenue to be make with (banner ad) click throughs," said Selina.
Member Emporium shares that revenue with participating credit unions, said Selina. Currently there are no fees for credit unions to offer the portal.
Selina said the product has been rolled out, or on the verge of being rolled out, by about a dozen credit unions. "We're going to start an aggressive sales campaign soon."
Selina said another benefit of Member Emporium is leveraging off of existing related products, such as cavion.com's credit union only private network, CUiNet.
-...
MADISON HEIGHTS, Mich. - DataMail, a statement processing, fulfillment company serving credit unions, is set to unveil an electronic statement solution.
The solution will give DataMail's CU clients the ability to deliver member statements electronically.
DataMail CEO William Hayden said DataMail's objective when developing the system was to make the printed and electronic statements identical-even down to the envelope.
Members receive an e-mail that their statement is ready, and within the e-mail is an electronic version of the printed envelope members get for printed statements. Members click on the window of the envelope and they are linked to their CU's home banking site, where they can then view the statement.
"A lot of companies are setting up separate sites where credit unions can tie into. We want the members to go through their home banking site. Our thinking is that by drawing people to the Web site, we can do more one-on-one marketing," said Hayden.
Hayden said many of DataMail's clients also send a monthly newsletter along with their statement, so DataMail will also replicate each CU's newsletter electronically. Members will be able to view the newsletter as well as their statement when they are linked to the Net banking system.
Hayden said there are upfront costs for the product, but credit unions will recoup that cost in savings on postage and printing.
Any custom statement that the CU would include on the printed envelope or statement will also be on the electronic version.
DataMail currently has 106 credit union clients....
PLYMOUTH, Mich. - The Credit Union Village portal (www.cu-village.com) is encouraging leagues and credit unions alike to participate in what it dubs as the first true business-to-consumer and business-to-business portal for credit unions.
Credit Union Village was developed by CUCorp., a league service organization of the Michigan Credit Union League. At press time, Dave Adams, CEO of CUCorp. and the Michigan CU League said that CUCorp. is in the process of being spun off as a separate company. Ownership is being opened up to credit unions, credit union leagues, and credit union service organizations (CUSOs, trade associations, etc.).
"The partner level is going to be a new sort of syndication model we've developed. The Golden 1 is the first to sign up for the partner level. Partners will have the greatest income potential," said Adams.
Partners can share in as much as 60% of the portal's revenue.
Adams said the initial offering should begin on July 1 if all goes well. "Our target is to raise $6 million, not including the $1.5 million the Michigan League and CUCorp. are going to commit," said Adams.
Having both a business-to-business and business-to-consumer model is the key to Credit Union Village, said Adams. At press time, 49 credit union leagues had committed to join the B-to-B component of the portal, with 29 already up and running.
"One of the significant announcements on the B-to-B side is going to be a very comprehensive learning center made available through state credit union leagues via CU Village's site. It will integrate one of the largest catalogs of online courses as well as financial service and credit union specific training products," said Adams.
Adams said this will allow leagues to present online training and educational content to their CU members via their own Village. One credit union might sign up for a lending course, for example, and have their loan officers work through it over the Web.
Part of the learning content will come from CUNA, said Adams. In fact, CUNA and CUNA Mutual are likely to play a key role in the future of Credit Union Village, he said.
"Along the way we are working closely with CUNA and CUNA Mutual. The reason is because they are very innovative, and we don't want to duplicate each other's efforts," said Adams.
Adams said credit union organizations such as CUNA and CUNA Mutual are likely candidates to become partners.
One of the concepts behind CU Village is that each village for each league or CU contains content unique for their membership, which often means presenting products and services from vendors in their area.
As for the B-to-C side of CU Village, Adams said the breadth of content on the site is leading edge. "We are putting a lot of fresh daily and weekly content on there as far as consumer tips. We like to say that it's credit union and consumer friendly. We're adding a classified section for members, some auto buying solutions and are working on a significant number of shopping/vendor relationships," said Adams.
He said all participants of CU Village will share the revenue, with partners getting the biggest cut.
"We haven't worked through all the dynamics of the shopping, but we want to emulate what successful sites like chase.com are doing in terms of `incenting' cardholders to shop at their credit union portal site. The bottomline is everything we do is going to minimize competitive problems, without making it a closed portal. It's open, but closely monitored for competition."
Adams said the credit union industry needs one large portal player that has the critical mass to negotiate deals with major e-commerce players-that's one of the reasons the Village is being spun off, he said.
Subscriber fees range from between $200 to $600 a month.
-...
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Banks in the state are applauding a recently enacted law that allows them to open branches anywhere in the U.S. or its territories, but the Kentucky Credit Union League is barely batting a eye over it.
H.B. 377 passed both chambers of the General Assembly and was signed into law by Gov. Paul Patton. It goes into effect July 14.
Prior to the bill's passage, banks chartered in Kentucky were allowed to establish branches only in the county in which their principal office or an existing branch is located. But Debbie Painter, director of public relations and government affairs for the KCUL said many banks have been finding loopholes in the law for many years and have found a way around it.
After making sure the measure didn't pose a threat to any credit union, Painter said the league didn't voice any opinion on it. "It's not going to affect the quality of service the banks offer," she remarked. "That will remain the same regardless of how many branches they open."
There are about 130 credit unions in Kentucky, mostly under $20 million in assets.
-...
BELLEVUE, Wash. - ShareBuilder.com has been ranked in the Top 10 of Forbes magazine's listing of leading brokerage sites.
ShareBuilder.com is a site offered by Netstock Direct Corp., Bellevue, Washington. Unlike other online investing sites, ShareBuilder.com is designed for dollar-cost averaging investing and users are not faced with any investment minimums.
As part of its quarterly "Best of Web" report, Forbes evaluated over 5,000 sites. The sites are evaluated using five criteria: design, navigation, content, speed and customization.
ShareBuilder.com's no-minimum investment policy has caught the attention of credit unions that want to offer online investing to low and middle income members. Patelco CU, GTE FCU and First Technology CU are among the CUs that are offering their members ShareBuilder.com's dollar-cost averaging investing services (CU Times, April 19)....
LAKE MARY, Fla. - Harte-Hanks Data Technologies has introduced Sell@advantage, a browser-based, enterprise-wide Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool.
According to Harte-Hanks, Sell@advantage can help employees cross sell products to members by providing employees with the three most likely products a member will be interested in.
After an employee makes a product suggestion, there is a referral section that quickly logs the session, the disposition and any contact information that will aid other employees in servicing the customer. The financial can then track the results, determine incentives for selling and referring customers and report on the financial impact of the sale.
For more information, visit the Harte-Hanks Web site at www.harte-hanks.com....
WORLD WIDE WEB - The race for portal dominance is on.
Despite the newness of portals in credit union land, the race has been going on for quite a while.
A number of players have either launched or are getting ready to launch a portal product that they hope will become the portal of choice for credit unions. But portals aren't developed overnight. The average portal product takes at least six months of development, and in some cases can take up to a year, according to many of the current CU portal providers.
Being an early player obviously carries some importance. Internet banking behemoth Digital Insight, Calabasas, Calif., showed the industry just how important being first with a hot technology product can be.
The company, which has its roots in the credit union industry, was one of the first out of the gates with a quality Web design/Net banking product. Today Digital Insight is one of the dominant Net banking providers in the financial industry.
Being first also helped the portal of all portals-Yahoo!-become one of the most popular personal home pages for Web surfers.
But there's more to being first. There's filling a niche, and having a good product. Not surprisingly, each of the major players in the credit union portal space believes that its portal has something unique and different that sets it apart from the others.
Credit unions, of course, will be the ultimate judges of portal prowess. Featured here are a handful of portal players that are aggressively targeting the credit union industry.
One common theme echoed by these companies is that their portal is-and likely always will be-a work in progress. They say the changing nature of not only the Web, but of credit unions, makes it so.
-...
NEW YORK - At home or work, American's are racking up minutes on the Web.
Media Metrix has become one of the leading authorities on the Net world and its just-released survey on Web usage finds that Americans spend more time on the Web at work than at home.
According to the survey, the average Web user at work views an average of 45 unique pages per day for a total of 484.3 pages a month. That number is lower for home surfing. At home the average surfer views 40.2 unique pages a day for a total of 418.5 pages per month.
During a typical month, Net users surf the are on the Web for 529.6 minutes at work. For home usage that number drops to 445.3 minutes.
Combining work and home for the same person, the person spends an average of 615.8 minutes on the Web. That breaks down to about 48.3 minutes a day.
- pgentile@cutimes.com...
After four years of failed attempts at passage, Florida Gov. Bush signed title loan legislation into law..................Page 12...
Washington Credit Union League urges NCUA to raise share insurance coverage............................................Page 7...
WASHINGTON - Callahan Credit Union Financial Services Limited Partnership has formed an alliance with FinanCenter.com to bring Web-based calculators to credit unions.
CCUFS said the deal will give credit unions lower prices on Web calculators than they might get on their own. Calculators, although often thought of as a given on most financial-related sites, are not yet built-in to many credit union sites.
FinanCenter offers 122 Web-based calculators, dealing with most financial products, such as mortgages, retirement accounts and others.
CCUFS said calculators can help generate more traffic at credit union Web sites and increase time spent at the sites.
For more information visit www.creditunions.com....
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. - Cavion.com, an Internet solutions company targeting the credit union industry, said it has successfully completed testing of electronic share draft imaging and statement delivery services to be provided through Eastern Corporate Federal Credit Union.
The new electronic services will provide EasCorp's credit union members with the tools to securely deliver monthly statements and images of canceled share drafts to their members via the Internet. Both EasCorp and cavion.com said they expect these services to cut costs by reducing postage, paper, printing and handling charges.
With the completion of the tests, cavion.com and EasCorp plan to immediately begin offering the new services to credit unions. Participating credit unions will access the services through cavion.com's Internet banking product.
EasCorp is the nation's eleventh-largest corporate credit union with assets of approximately $1 billion. The corporate serves 270 credit unions in eight states....
THORNDALE, Pa. - One way to build scale with tech services is to give them away.
Citadel FCU is using a relationship pricing model to give its members who have either high balances or utilize a lot of CU services free bill payment.
It's working. In just one month of offering bill payment, Citadel has already signed up 1,000 members for the service. At press time, the credit union had processed over 1,300 bills via the system.
While Citadel isn't seeing any revenue from its bill pay component, it thinks it will help build and save assets over the long haul.
"If you lose that online market, their allegiance is going to go somewhere else. We want to take care of those members that are online," said Maria Steffy, vice president of finance for Citadel FCU.
Citadel is utilizing credit union data processor's USERS Internet BillPayer.
While there are debates in the industry about the percentages of members actually using their credit union's home banking system, Steffy said any members that are Net oriented should be taken care of because they often turn out to be the credit union's best members.
About 10,000 of Citadel's 80,000 members are using its USERS' home banking system, that's about 13% of its membership. Steffel said community charters are probably more in need of a full suite of Web services.
"The Web is important to us because we're community based and serve all types of people. To the west of us we have a lot of blue collar workers, and to the east the more Silicon Valley-like professionals," said Steffel.
"I just think many more people have access to PCs, whether at home or work. Access is so fast now, it all dovetails together with what were doing on the Web."
The CU recently started a CUSO focused on insurance and investment products. She said down the line she'd like to give members the "360 degree" view by displaying members' stock purchases in their Net banking accounts.
"That's next, along with a portal product." She said she was given a sneak preview of a portal product Fiserv is developing and it had the "360 degree" capability she's looking for.
-pgentile@cutimes.com...
HIGHTSTOWN, N.J. - Add The Credit Union Affiliates of New Jersey's name to the growing list of credit union leagues and trade associations speaking out against NCUA's controversial privacy amendment.
"We strongly oppose this amendment because it will create a major regulatory and financial burden on credit unions unnecessarily," wrote CUANJ President/CEO Russell Clark in his May 10-letter to the agency.
NCUA's amendment requires credit unions send co-borrowers and guarantors the same privacy disclosures required by law for primary borrowers. This "adds insult to injury by compelling credit unions, which are on average the least wealthy federally regulated institutions, to absorb the enormous expense of providing these disclosures to co-borrowers and guarantors, when credit unions are the least likely to market this information to third parties," said Clark.
"At a time when the credit union movement is emphasizing service to small credit unions, it is unconscionable to impose such costs on those financial institutions least equipped to absorb them," he stressed....
BURBANK, Calif. - There were major question marks when CUShopper, a credit union member online shopping network, was unveiled last year.
CUShopper's online shopping network isn't a portal that features loads of content and just a few shopping features; it is a shopping component only-one of the purest forms of e-commerce.
Was the credit union industry ready for a pure e-commerce component? Were credit union members ready for it? How good was the free service?
CUShopper CEO Adam Wicks Walker said credit unions themselves have answered those questions.
At press time, Walker said CUShopper had approximately 1,500 credit union clients. With figures from Callahan's and NCUA putting the number of CUs with a Web site somewhere in the 2,500 range, CU Shopper has over 60% of the credit unions that are on the Web.
Walker said CUShopper is aggressively going after credit unions with its free service today, because the industry may only be able to support a handful of shopping sites a few years down the road.
"I look at all the e-commerce hype with a grain of salt. The last survey I saw gave the statistic that people watch an average of 12 television stations, but surf just 10 Web sites. There isn't going to be room for 10,000 Web sites that do the same thing," said Walker.
CUShopper is a privately held company and doesn't give out its financials, but Walker said since its rollout last year the network has processed thousands of member purchases for millions of dollars in credit union loans.
The concept behind CUShopper is to not only provide members with a credit union online shopping choice for big-ticket consumer goods, but to allow the credit union to present its financing options at the time of purchase.
When members shop at major electronic retail chains they are often presented with a store credit card option that is backed by a large bank. The credit card says "Best Buy" for example, but the account is provided by a Bank One. That's the kind of financing action CUShopper is trying to get credit unions into, said Walker.
Walker said the average size of a transaction on CUShopper is approximately $1,500, which could mean a $1,500 loan for the credit union.
Some credit unions are looking at CUShopper not as a high-powered vehicle for generating loans, but as a complementary piece to existing Web services and as a Web "attraction" tool.
"We have about 50 members every week using the CUShopper feature," said Juan Facudo, vice president of lending for Austin Metropolitan FCU, Texas. The credit union unveiled the service in June of last year.
Facudo said the average member CUShopper purchase is for about $1,100. The credit union has a special computer loan members can use if they are purchasing a PC, otherwise they can use the credit union's credit card or a generic unsecured loan.
Facudo expects the CUShopper feature to generate about $100,000 in loans for the credit union this year.
"We wanted volume on our site. We don't expect the loan dollars to have a real significant impact on this credit union, but I want to bring in things that will attract members to the site," he said.
Based on the 200 visits a month to the shopping area, it's obvious the shopping component is enticing members to visit, said Facudo. He would like to get more online shopping loans, but if members pick up on some other credit union product or service during their Web visit, that's fine too.
"The main purpose of adding CUShopper was to bring attention to our Web site. We want as sticky a site as we can get. The more members that visit, the more services they'll see. The second purpose was to increase loans," said Kim Brandt, marketing director for Corporate America Family CU.
The CU unveiled CUShopper in February of this year. Brandt said the credit union developed a special e-commerce loan product to help members finance CUShopper purchases.
While Brandt did not have any loan statistics ready at press time, she said the first month after unveiling CUShopper, Web site hits increased by about 1,000.
Brandt said a portal is next on the CU's Web wish list.
Walker said CUShopper is even developing Web sites for credit unions that want the CUShopper product, but don't have a Web presence. "It takes us no time to get a site going. It does take two to four weeks to create the marketing materials," said Walker.
CUShopper provides direct mail and other marketing pieces for credit unions to market the shopping network to members. The free materials sound great, but have caused concern among some, said Walker.
"There is a perception that `gee is this really free?' At this time we want to provide that marketing support for free. With the volume of the printing we're doing, costs drop significantly."
"We obviously need to increase the volume of everything. Our business plan calls to build massive scale and build a brand value. That's what creates the favorable economics of this business," he said.
Because of its success Walker said CUShopper has become a favorite target of other CU Web firms looking to partner up.
"We've looked at a lot of things. Sometimes companies want to partner up `just because.' We need a reason to do it. When we're asked for a partnership, I appreciate it, but we really need to focus on our core business. Let's get really good at that first. We don't want to be in every e-commerce solution," said Walker.
Despite the company's success Walker said there's a perception that CUShopper is growing too fast. "I think people might say we're growing too fast, but we have processes in place to deal with that growth."
CUShopper recently unveiled travel packages. "Travel so far has been very exciting. There's been a different response than we expected. We have 30 and 40 people going on trips together. Some credit union office managers are going on cruises with their members."
-pgentile@cutimes.com...
WORLD WIDE WEB - There are a lot of debates about whether the new business paradigms created by the Web will produce profitable companies or failed start-ups, but one thing few can argue with is the affordability of a Web storefront.
Compared to brick and mortar, developing a Web presence is dirt cheap, said Blair Englehart, president of cusuperstore.com, a site that offers credit unions "logo-ized" clothing, office supplies and other items right from the site. At press time, the site was for credit unions only.
"The beauty of the e-commerce world is that turn around time is so quick, and costs are lower. Not being the traditional brick and mortar, we don't have the overhead," said Englehart. "We have a graphic designer and someone managing the site, and that's it."
Englehart said the site's sales are 50% higher than the company anticipated. "Our predictions are to do a million dollars in clothes this year," he said.
Credit unions don't have to buy the logo products directly from the site; they can order catalogs at the site and then place orders over the phone. The site is getting about 30 catalog requests a month.
The product line is so diverse, said Englehart, that there's no way cusuperstore.com could keep an adequate inventory on hand. But with the Web, inventory isn't necessary.
"We sell anything you can slap a logo on, notepads, jackets, whatever. We buy directly from the manufacturers and use local companies to do the embroidering," said Englehart.
Like many other things sold on the Web, credit unions using cusuperstore.com said the convenience factor was key for buying their logo-wear via the Web.
"Their response time was better than we have ever had from local vendors and their selection was incredible. This is the quickest, easiest ... way to buy our logo wear," said Brian Warble, vice president of FPL FCU, Miami.
Englehart admitted that he's surprised how well cusuperstore.com is doing, having only unveiled the site on April 15. He said one factor could be the growing popularity of casual days at credit unions.
Englehart, who is also president of Englehart Dicken, an Indianapolis-based advertising and design agency, said he saw a niche for an online customized clothing logo site, because it's something all credit unions do.
"There isn't a credit union in the world that doesn't buy logo clothing. It's something they have to do," he said. "Credit unions all need data processing, we don't do that. They need marketing, we already do that. And they need logo clothing-that was our opportunity."
Catalog requests and orders are coming from credit unions as as small as $2 million and as large as $1 billion, said Englehart.
The company is seeing a lot of requests for clothing, especially hats, that are embossed with the credit union's Web address. First Resource FCU, St. Joseph, Mich., recently ordered hats for employees and members that have the CU's Web address featured on the front.
Englheart noted that CUNA recently selected Englehart Dicken to redesign six Web sites for CUNA's assorted councils. "These sites will be groundbreaking," he said.
-pgentile@cutimes.com...
CALABASAS, Calif. - Internet solutions provider Digital Insight said it has over one million end users on its Internet banking solution.
Digital Insight officials believes their company is the first outsourced Internet banking provider to reach the million one end user mark.
The following are the most recent monthly stats on users of its service bureau Net banking solution: 80.1 million page views; 306 million hits; 5.5 million logins to Internet banking; 786,000 transfers; $690 million transferred; 400,000 bills paid; 3.5 million accounts.
The company said each end user has an average of 3.5 accounts, putting Digital Insight's total number of accounts above Bank of America and Wells Fargo, each reporting 1.6 and 1.45 million online accounts at year-end 1999.
Digital Insight said that its average end user has an annual income between $50 - $75,000, and is between the ages of 35 to 44. The average Digital Insight end user is male, owns a home, and has a professional occupation.
``Our data suggests that these are not only active users, but profitable customers for financial institutions. A typical Digital Insight online end user has more accounts and has higher income than the general financial institution customer, providing the institution with a greater `share of wallet,'" said Meheriar Hasan, senior vice president of product management for Digital Insight....
As e-commerce has grown, employees specializing in e-commerce have become more common at tech firms serving credit unions. Here are some recent e-commerce/portal provider appointments.
* CUShopper, Burbank, Calif., has appointed Sandra Choi vice president of eCommerce. Choi was formerly the director of Electronic Commerce for E! Entertainment where she helped launch and manage E!Entertainment's online store Shop.eonline.com
* Open Solutions Inc., Glastonbury, Ct., has named Manoj Mittal as director of business development for electronic commerce. Prior to joining OSI Mittal worked as an equity analyst for Robert Stephens, covering the Internet sector. He also worked as a software architect for Hewlett Packard.
* MembersResources.com, Milford, Conn., appointed Keith Nolan vice president, national sales director. Nolan formerly worked as Payment Systems for Credit Union's chief marketing officer. He will be responsible for growing credit union business and for strategic alliances....
LONDON and SAN FRANCISCO-The "Love Bug" and subsequent, more damaging viruses (CU Times, May 24) that have swept the world's computers is proof, says the insurance giant Lloyds of London here that e-commerce carries with its benefits some grave risks.
In fact, e-commerce was identified as the single biggest insurance risk of the 21st century, according to a survey of U.S. insurance workers at a conference in San Francisco recently, with 70% of delegates naming it the biggest worry of Net business growth for the new economy.
-...
HERNDON, Va. - At press time the National Automated Clearing House Association said that the first digitally signed payment sent over the Net via a U.S.-based EFT network has been successfully transmitted.
A digitally signed payment was sent from a mock merchant Web site through STAR's EFT network. The system is designed to work with ATM/debit cards.
Here's how it works. A consumer makes a purchase over the Net using their ATM/debit card, but instead of entering just their PIN, as they would at a real-time POS terminal, they digitally sign the electronic payment.
That doesn't involve some magical electronic pen. It means the user utilizes some kind of private key or code (the digital signature) contained on a smart card or some other storage device, to sign the payment.
The storage device, which will be issued by the consumer's financial, sends this signature to the consumer's financial for verification. Once it's verified the payment is made via ACH.
What is being transmitted via the storage device is not account information, but the digital signature.
This type of verification brings a physical presence to a Net transaction. The user only uses the storage key pin device when making a payment....
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Portana is in the building.
Portana (www.portana.com) is the portal creation of FISI-Madison, a Cendant subsidiary, and FundsXpress, an Internet solutions provider.
Some credit unions may already be familiar with FundsXpress' Web solutions. The company has a relationship with CUNA to provide CUs with Internet banking solutions. CUNA President/CEO Dan Mica even sits on the FundsXpress board.
The just-released Portana is designed to give credit unions control of what their members are seeing, and how they are being marketed to, said Greg Constantine, a senior vice president with FISI-Madison.
Constantine said any competitive advertising can be squelched by the credit union. The credit union can also present its entire online suite of products from within Portana, including Internet banking, online lending, online brokerage and shopping for insurance. Constantine said this transaction component is not fully developed yet, but should be available by year-end.
FISI-Madison and FundsXpress are working on developing a single log-in to allow members access to all of the above online functions. The idea is to prevent members from getting bogged down logging in separately to all of the different components, said Constantine.
Portana also offers credit unions revenue sharing opportunities, including sharing on banner advertising dollars and revenue from member purchases.
The portal, like most, provides loads of content, including search engines; direct news feeds (Portana's is from Reuters); stock quotes; horoscopes; and on and on, but there is also a component that allows the credit union to offer local businesses advertising and news space on the portal.
Down the pike, Constantine said one major differentiator between Portana and the other portals is the development of an e-wallet. Constantine said the e-wallet will allow members to make purchases anywhere on the Web using a CU loan or account product.
At first the e-wallet will be launched with the CU's credit card as the form of payment, but Constantine said in about 180 days they expect to tie the e-wallet to a member's share account-debiting a member's account once a purchase is made.
Constantine said Portana will also utilize data mining, predictive modeling and one-to-one marketing tools for credit unions to target products to members. All information about members' movements through the portal are available to the credit unions only, said Constantine. He said some credit unions have expressed interest in these reports so that they can match products with members' needs.
Unlike some of the other portals, Portana is available to both credit unions and banks.
The name "Portana" doesn't mean much of anything, said Constantine. "It's one that our ad agency created. They came up with about 300. This one stuck. It's catchy," he said.
Constantine said Portana currently has 25 financial clients (a mix of credit unions and banks).
Credit unions pay a one-time initial marketing fee.
-...
AUSTIN, Texas - It's hard to tell where portal provider Good2CU.com is going because at press time CEO Lee Cooke said the company was still in negotiations to either be bought or receive substantial funding from a third party.
So far Good2CU.com has not been able to 100% complete its super site portal product, but Cooke is confident that once the deal with the third party is completed the product will roll out sometime late this summer.
"I'd say we're about 70% complete. We need help to finish the last 30%. Even though we've lost several weeks, everything we've done so far is running smooth and is functional," said Cooke.
He said the company Good2CU.com was negotiating with at press time is a well-known tech provider in the credit union industry.
Though not completed yet, Cooke offered a look into what the super site portal will look like once it's done.
"Our differentiator is that we're building such a dynamic back-end. We're going to have an engine that's going to be able to provide members, in real-time, information or offers as they are using the portal," he said.
The super site will offer online lending, brokerage, bill presentment and payment, online car buying, as well as a plethora of content items revolving around financial information, lifestyle, home life, health and other topics.
Cooke said lending and investments will be a big part of the site. The site will have a comprehensive loan center where members can learn about all credit union lending products. If Good2CU.com CU clients elect to use Good2CU.com's 60-second online loan application from FIData, members can have a loan answer in a minute or less.
Good2CU.com is also planning a complete car buying section, that pulls car and truck reviews from Road & Track, Car & Driver and other popular auto magazines. Blue Book and NADA reference material will be available, and again, the FIData 60-second loan product is an option credit unions can sign up for.
The portal is scheduled to have an online brokerage component, and be backed by news from EdgarOnline, TheStreet.com , etc..
"We're late, but we've looked at everything out there. They're building stripped down versions of the complete solution we will have," said Cooke.
Good2CU.com is currently owned by Billing Concepts, which also owns FIData. Good2CU.com does offer revenue sharing with credit unions and has a tiered pricing structure with fees expected to range from $6,000 to $18,000 a year.
- pgentile@cutimes.com pgentile@cutimes.com...
ORLANDO, Fla. - It took four years of perseverance, but the fifth try was the one that succeeded in getting the state legislature to finally pass a bill that caps interest rates Florida title lenders can charge borrowers.
Almost 100 credit union supporters were on hand at Martin FCU May 18 for the historic signing of the bill into law by Gov. Jeb Bush.
Bush said he was "pleased to sign a bill into law that corrects a situation that has existed in our state where people in need of money would seek a loan, and instead end up deeper in debt and deeper in trouble."
The governor described title loan businesses as "a situation that has adversely affected many residents of our state", particularly-but not limited to-those in the state's poorer communities.
"The law I'm signing today allows the free market to operate fairly while looking out for consumers who otherwise wouldn't have anyone looking out for them. By placing a limit on the amount of interest that can be charged on a title loan transaction and by directing the department of banking and finance to regulate the title loan industry, consumers can now comfortably enter the market knowing they're protected against unfair practices."
H.B. 301, the "Florida Title Loan Act," was sponsored by State Rep. Bill Sublette (R-Orlando) and was supported by the Florida Credit Union League, state Attorney General Bob Butterworth, Comptroller Robert Milligan and various consumer advocate groups including Florida Public Interest Research Group (PIRG). The measure was passed unanimously by the State House of Representatives. The law caps title loan interest rates at 30% APR (a statute passed in 1995 allowed title lenders to charge up to 264% per annum.) It also gives the Florida Department of Banking and Finance the responsibility for licensing and regulating the businesses and permits the adoption of more restrictive ordinances by counties or muncipalities, provides for application, bonds, remedies and criminal penalities for violation of the act.
The state Assembly unanimously passed an identical measure, S. 694 sponsored by state Assemblyman Kendrick Meek (D-Miami).
Sublette called the day "a wonderful day for the consumers of Florida. No longer will they be preyed upon by 264% interest charging loan sharks, no longer will our Navy men and women bear the risk of these loans, no longer will we read hooror stories about title lenders."
According to industry estimates, more than 600 title loan shops operate in Florida.
Sublette sponsored similar title loan legislation three times before this year's measure (a first bill was introduced in 1996 by another legislator, but it never made it out of committee.) The earlier bills were successful in the state House but they consistently died in the state Senate. Last year, just hours before adjournment on April 30, the state Senate passed a bill, S. 898 that would have capped title loan interest rates at 96% annually.
Many consumer advocates, legislators, religious leaders, even the U.S. Navy voiced their opposition to that bill and called the provisions unacceptable.
S. 898 would also have prohibited local governments from regulating the car title-loan industry.
Even before the demise of last year's title loan bill, nine counties or cities in Florida had taken their own initiative and passed laws capping interest rates at 18% or 30%. By the time H.B. 301 passed in the state legislature this year, more than 30 counties or cities had passed similar ordinances or laws.
Both Bush and Sublette recognized credit unions' efforts in securing passage of the title loan legislation. "It's appropriate that we're signing this bill in a credit union which has a great tradition of providing quality consumer loans to people of all walks of life," said Bush. He suggested that title lenders could take a lesson from credit unions in loan practices.
Sublette echoed the governor's remarks saying, "We are here today because credit unions have been a wonderful part of this process. They are true heroes in the financial arena, they provide low cost loans and were the first to step up to the plate and counter the perception that was intended to be created by the title lenders that there were no other alternative sources of lending or financing for these folks who didn't have access allegedly to credit. This was a team effort."
-...
HONOLULU - The Hawaii Credit Union League has named Ron Ogata, president/CEO of HawaiiUSA Federal Credit Union (formally Oahu Educational Employees FCU), its "Professional of the Year."
Ogata received the award at the Hawaii Credit Union League's 62nd Annual Convention held at the Outrigger Waikoloa Beach Hotel on May 5, 2000.
Ogata was recognized in a number of leadership areas. He was credited with resolving major labor problems at his credit union. Ogata was successful in convincing his staff to de-certify from their labor union. HawaiiUSA Federal Credit Union is one of only two companies in the labor history of Hawaii to accomplish this task.
Ogata has served as vice president of the Oahu Credit Union Manager's Association, president of CUES, Rainbow Chapter, Hawaii; vice president and president of the Oahu Aloha Chapter of Credit Unions; and as a director of the Hawaii Credit Union League....
OAKBROOK TERRACE, Ill. - Internet banking is just one of the high-tech solutions that analysts have described as a "killer app" that is essential for financials to keep customers. But is it?
A just-released study by the Raddon Financial Group (RFG) shows that 58% of consumers don't even know if their primary financial institution offers online banking. RFG's semi-annual national consumer research study surveyed close to 1,400 consumers.
Awareness of Internet banking solutions among consumers improved slightly over last year. Last year's RFG study found that 62% of consumers didn't know if their PFI offered online banking.
Twenty-nine percent of consumers surveyed said they knew their PFI offers on-line banking, while another 13% said they were sure their PFI did not.
Robert O'Meara, VP of Research for RFG, said financials have been successful marketing online banking to the Internet's early adopters, but are having trouble penetrating less tech-oriented segments.
Younger consumers and consumers with higher income were found to be the most aware of their PFI's online banking solutions.
The study also looked at the features consumers value the most in an online banking program. The most valued feature (cited by 68.4% of consumers) was the ability to view check clearings. Next came the ability to obtain current account balances (67.5%). See accompanying chart for other features consumers said they value most from their Net banking product.
For more information visit www.raddon.com...
MILLFORD, Conn. - Members Resources.com President and Chief Operating Officer Mark Sessel said original, member-focused content and a complete menu of e-commerce options puts MembersResources.com ahead of the pack.
Sessel said MembersResources.com is currently in the final stages of completing an alliance that will bring an Internet lending piece to the portal. It will allow members to apply for traditional CU loans, as well as for e-commerce loans to fund purchases made on the site.
But Sessel said that aside from online lending, Internet banking, and traditional Net-based functionality, Members-Resources.com wants to meet members at the initial access point by partnering to provide them with Internet Service Provider solutions.
He said an ISP component is on the horizon, and also a separate Members Resources.com free e-mail account, similar to the free e-mail Yahoo!, MSN and other portals offer. Members who already have ISP service could still get a free MembersResources.com e-mail address.
Sessel said there are thousands of sites members can go for generic personal finance information, so the company wanted something unique.
MembersResources.com has brought on columnists who write just for the portal. They focus on not only financial matters, said Sessel, but also on health, childcare, home life, sports, and entertainment.
MembersResources.com even has its own original online soap opera, Hallowed Halls.
The e-commerce component, "Members Mall", currently has 80 stores in it. Credit unions receive 50% of the revenue from purchases members make in the mall.
The portal encourages member usage by awarding "Resource Dollars" each time a member makes a purchase in the mall. Members can use those dollars toward future purchases.
Interestingly, Sessel said one of the more popular areas of the portal is the games section. Members can play games online and even play interactively against another Web surfer.
At press time, MembersResources.com and EDS announced a strategic marketing alliance. EDS will provide a seamless integration of its Net banking and bill pay solutions on the portal.
Sessel said down the line EDS will assist MembersResources.com with the technology to integrate the Net banking solutions from other credit union data processors. The alliance is also expected to spawn a broker/dealer component for the portal.
"It won't be mandatory for its clients, but EDS will be offering our portal to them," said Sessel.
Sessel said 50 credit unions have signed up for the portal service. The service is free.
-...
BOCA RATON, Fla., and MADISON, Wis.-Credit unions that outsource the design of their e-commerce Web sites need to know how to protect the ownership rights to that Web site, warned attorney Kenneth Hansen, during a recent Enterprise Development Corporation of South Florida presentation here recently.
Hansen, head of the e-commerce group of the legal firm Quarles & Brady, Madison, Wisconsin, informed workshop attendees that Web site clients need to have a combination of a written agreement as well as a copyright license to be absolutely certain that the Web site developer does not own the site.
This holds true for content or information contained on the site, which is usually provided by the client company, unless it is already copyrighted, but also for the code and script, he said.
"If a work is made by an independent contractor, rather than by an employee for hire, then, absent an express agreement to the contrary, the independent contractor owns all of the copyrights to the work created by it and the party paying for the production of the software/Web site is merely entitled to ownership of the single copy of the work."
The agreement should also stipulate that the Web site owner can modify the site.
Be careful, too, Hansen pointed out, that the site developer cannot reuse the code written to generate your site without your specific knowledge. Most agreements neglect to plainly state the circumstances under which this may be allowed.
That's particularly important when code written for one site is reused to design a competitor's Web site. What is to prevent a designer from eliciting business from your competitors? asked Hansen. The answer is a non-compete clause in the contract.
Don't forget to protect your interests if there is a delay in the designer's promised timetable. E-commerce sites are time-driven, he said, because speed is the name of the game. A contract should outline the consequences of any delays in Web site development.
Register the copyright and be sure to post a copyright notice prominently on the site, he advised. This usually deters copyright thieves, as damages for infringement can run from a mere $750 to $30,000. Deliberate violations, if proven, can result in damages as high as $150,000.
Remember that copyright law protects design, not ideas. Ideas on competitive sites that are remarkably like your own are not proprietary, Hansen reminded.
-...
OMAHA, Neb. - Scott Sullivan has been named league president by the Nebraska Credit Union League's Board of Directors.
Sullivan, former vice president for the league, has been acting president since former-president Dr. Christopher Kennedy was appointed Vice President of Association Services of Credit Union Affiliates of New Jersey in April....
SANTA MONICA, Calif. - uMember.com has spent the last year and a half fine tuning its credit union-only portal product.
Ernie Marquez, executive vice president for uMember.com, said the company was set to launch sometime last year, but wanted to reevaluate its branding and product strategy after seeing some of the other portal providers' offerings. The company finally unveiled its portal two months ago.
"After other guys beat us to the punch, we took a step back and rebranded ourselves. We talked to a lot of credit unions to make sure we met their wants and needs," said Marquez, who is a former board member of Southern California Edison Credit Union.
Though new to the credit union market with a portal, uMember.com is already a public company (traded under the symbol UMEM.COM). It was spun off from Wareforce.com, a provider of information technology and e-commerce solutions.
USA FCU, Los Angeles, was the first credit union to go live with the uMember.com portal. The company said it has two other credit unions signed up.
The portal is free for credit unions and members. Each quarter uMember.com gives credit unions 1% of the revenue made from their members' purchases. Marquez said half of that money goes back to CUs in the form of incentives for members to continue using the portal, with the other half for the credit union to use as they want.
As for differentiators from the other players, uMember.com claims to have close to a million products available on its site.
"The other e-commerce site out there has 3,200 products. We're on the verge of a million products. We have direct relationships with manufacturers that in some cases can mean 73% discounts," said Marquez.
Like the other portals, uMember.com is customizable as far as content and being able to implement the CU's branding information. There are special sections for credit unions to post specific CU promotions and any CU news.
The portal does feature a chat room function that allows members to talk electronically. The content is screened for inappropriate material. Marquez said the chat rooms are kid friendly. The portal also has bulletin boards.
An auction component allows members to bid on products from manufacturers as well as each other. The products range from home and garden items to electronics. The auction component is powered by www.bidland.com.
Another unique feature Marquez points to is a soon to be released shopping cart feature that will allow members to have money automatically debited from any one of their CU accounts when they make a purchase on uMember.com
uMember.com provides participating credit unions with free direct marketing materials, including collateral material such as posters and signs to do grand openings at their branches.
The portal is designed to be accessed from the credit union's home page.
Marquez said uMember.com gives away free prizes to members as incentives to keep coming back. That the portal will soon feature a car buying service.
-...
MADISON, Wis. - The National Youth Involvement Board 2000 conference will focus on strategies to appeal to younger members.
"The need to attract young people into credit unions gets more urgent every day," said Heather Harris, NYIB chairman. "Competition for their business is getting more aggressive."
The conference titled "Conquering the Crises", will concentrate on providing solutions to solve youth financial literacy problems, meet youth financial service needs and create leaders for the future.
Session topics range from "Marketing to the Dot-Com Generation" to "Using Technology to Reach Younger Members." The conference will also feature special training from the National Endowment for Financial Education on how to use the High School Financial Planning Program in schools. CUNA partnered with NEFE earlier this year to help young people learn how to deal with common financial issues.
The conference will be held August 24-26 at the Edgewater Hotel in Madison, Wis.
For more information contact Barbara Main at 608-833-9655....
FARMERS BRANCH, Texas - E-mail. E-commerce. E-signatures. E-yow! Technology seminars download an abundance of information into people's minds, but attendees often leave with the question, "Now what?" according to Janine McBee, senior training director at the Texas Credit Union League.
The Credit Union E-vent, to be presented August 13-15 by Extreme Arts & Sciences, Texas Credit Union League and Colorado Credit Union League, will provide the "now what piece of the puzzle," McBee said.
The three day conference, to be held at the Westin Seattle in Seattle, Washington, will focus on bringing CEOs, vice presidents of marketing, operations and lending, CFOs, branch managers, loan officers, researchers, call center managers, Web masters and network administrators what they need to know to turn technological information into real life business plans.
Current technology, information technology strategy and technology plans are a few of the topics that will be covered at the conference. "We are anticipating a high synergy environment. We are capping the number of participants at 100, so we can send everyone away with an individual plan," said McBee.
For more information on E-vent, contact McBee contact McBee at (800) 442-5762, Ext. 5453....
* According to CUNA at press time, an attempt to add CU-supported bankruptcy reform legislation to crop insurance legislation failed because of a dispute over homestead exemptions.
* Strong preliminary NCUA first quarter figures for FICUs over $50 million in assets, released May 24, indicated that the number of FICUs grew by 52 over last year's first quarter totals to 1,506 and that these institutions now represent 14% of all credit unions and 79% of total CU assets.
As of March 31, the capital ratio of these FICUs stood at 11.1% and net capital was 10.5%.
In addition, "large" FICU assets increased in the first quarter by 3.2%, from $323.5 to $334 billion; loans grew by 2%, from $215.1 to $219.4 billion; savings went up by 4% to $291.9 billion from $280.7 billion; and the delinquency ratio declined from 0.6% to 0.5%. The loan-to-share ratio decreased from 76.6% to 75.1%, the agency said.
The most significant gain, according to NCUA, was in the area of share drafts, which grew by 11.7% in the first quarter; while investments grew by 7% to $84.4 billion.
NCUA also said that the largest category of loans-first mortgage real estate loans-slowed its rate of first quarter growth over last year's from 4.8% to 2.1%, but that the actual dollar amount increased from $63.1 billion to $64.4 billion. First quarter figures for new auto loans, however, increased over last quarter's by 2.8%-up to $40.3 billion from $39.2 billion. And first quarter used auto loans increased by 3.2% over last quarter's to $41.1 billion from $39.8 billion.
First quarter deposits in corporate credit unions, the agency said, increased a significant 16.7%, up from $13.8 billion to $16.2 billion.
* It's time to rethink and recreate the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund (NCUSIF), said Callahan and Associates President Chip Filson, into something that better reflects the cooperative structure of the credit union system and the stability of CUs.
While no insurance losses have been charged to the P&L for the past five years, the NCUA has "routinely charged 50% and more of its total operating expenses to the fund," said Filson. That figure now stands at some $254 million for NCUA "administration" in that same timeframe. The 2000 budget is projected at $60 million.
Since 1985 (when the fund was capitalized) the agency's operating expenses charged to the fund have risen from $10.8 million to $58.4 million, a 535% increase. This escalation comes at a time when the number of federally insured credit unions has declined by 7,000 over 20 years; yet the cost of a CU's insurance has risen from $726 in 1985 to $5,494 in 1999, an increase of 756%, said Filson.
"The role of the NCUSIF has shifted from funding insurance activities to underwriting the operating costs of the federal charter. In essence, the state charters are providing a subsidy to the federal system," Filson concludes.
Because NCUA is an independent agency and does not have to answer to any congressional or executive authority, there is no oversight or control of how CU insurance funds are spent....
ALBANY, N.Y. - Wayne Diesel, president/CEO of the New York State Credit Union League and Affiliates since Dec. 1997, has resigned.
According to league sources, Diesel's decision was made for "personal and family reasons."
No effective date for Diesel's resignation has been announced.
William Merlin, senior vice president/COO of League Affiliate CUC Mortgage Corp. has been appointed interim president....
JACKSONVILLE, Fla.- The Florida Credit Union League recently honored Representative Corrine Brown (D) for her contributions to the credit union movement.
Rep. Brown was among the first to sign on to H.R. 1151 in 1998. It was the grassroots support of the bill which was later passed in the Senate as the Credit Union Membership Access Act that set credit unions apart in her eyes, said Brown.
"It amazed me, and I've been an elected official 18 years," Brown said. "When you have an industry as powerful as banking it's a hard fight. But when the Supreme Court ruled, it was very important that we move to protect credit unions."
According to Brown, credit unions are more important to her Florida constituency than ever before.
All the credit unions in the North East Chapter were present at the reception, held at Educational Community Credit Union, where Rep. Brown was presented with a check for the Credit Union Political Action Committee. Many of the attendees at the reception were also present when Brown cosigned the Bill HR1151....