WINSTON SALEM, N.C. -- If you can say it and visualize it then you can save for it....

BEAVERTON, Ore. -- Troy Stang, vice president of marketing at the $1.8 billion Arizona Federal Credit Union in Phoenix, will become president/CEO of the Credit Union Association of Oregon on July 1....

LOS ANGELES -- The boards of the $356 million First City Credit Union and the $430 million SCE Federal Credit Union have signed letters of intent to merge the two institutions. Dennis Huber, CEO of SCE, will head the surviving First City, which will have more than $785 million in assets....

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- In a state particularly hard hit by both the downward housing spiral and manufacturing-based job cuts, Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland joined 14 other states and the District of Columbia by capping interest rates. Gov. Strickland signed into law last week legislation that limits interest rates to 28%....

BETHPAGE, N.Y. -- Bethpage Federal Credit Union drew a record breaking number of 503,000 people to its 2008 Memorial Day Weekend 5th Annual Air Show....

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Kaiperm Federal Credit Union here has lost $2.1 million in the first quarter of 2008 and has a return on assets of close to negative 9%, making for a troubled outlook for recovery in a down economy and slumping housing market. But Credit Union Times has learned that Alliant Credit Union, headquartered in Chicago, has offered a proposal to merge with Kaiperm....

WASHINGTON -- As housing officials hoped they'd finally seen the bottom of the housing market, things seemed to grow ever worse as available home prices declined steeply and inventory rose....

WASHINGTON -- CUNA and its state affiliates had a string of successes in last week's congressional primaries on both sides of the aisle....

WASHINGTON -- Large and midsize businesses continued to feel the squeeze over the last three months from nearly 55% of domestic banks, according to the Federal Reserve Board's April 2008 senior loan officer opinion survey on bank lending practices....

WASHINGTON -- As a child growing up in the Chicago area, Andy Hunter aspired to be the shortstop for his beloved Chicago Cubs....

PORTLAND, Ore. -- Inter-state branching by credit unions is on a minor upswing in the Northwest....

LANCASTER, S.C. -- In times of stale member growth, $1.4 billion Founders Credit Union has shown an expertise in gaining members, reporting a 9.6% membership increase over last year....

AUSTIN, Texas -- More than 175 credit unions and other financial institutions are now using the direct and indirect lending automation solutions from Teres Solutions Inc., the company said....

ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- State Department Federal Credit Union plans to deploy a new Web merchant capture solution from VSoft Corp., the company and credit union said....

PASADENA, Calif. -- Three more credit unions have become service bureau users of their Symitar Episys core processing systems through Wescom Resources Group....

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- A special intranet portal sale by Passageways LLC has garnered $6,300 so far for local charities, the company said....

TEMPE, Ariz. -- Employees of US Airways were recently...

Digital FCU Honors State National...

WASHINGTON -- Mike Weber, former vice president of marketing and public relations at $507 million Dupaco Community Credit Union, has been hired by Credit Union Student Choice as its new vice president of marketing....

GLASTONBURY, Conn. -- Open Solutions Inc. continues to expand its international reach, this time partnering with a Brazilian provider....

LAKE GENEVA, Wis. -- It is summertime and once again HSA Clearing Corp., a health savings account turnkey program provider, wants to show credit unions that now is the time to start offering HSAs....

MILPITAS, Calif. -- Symitar will be a re-seller of a storage encryption appliance from nCipher, a British provider of identity management and data protection solutions....

By CAROL ANNE BURGER...

By CLAUDE R. MARX...

By MARC RAPPORT...

By MARC RAPPORT...

By MARC RAPPORT...

ATHENS, Ga. -- Georgia Federal Credit Union partnered with the College of Family and Consumer Sciences at the University of Georgia to provide the volunteer income tax assistance program this year....

By HEATHER ANDERSON...

By HEATHER ANDERSON...

FAIRFAX, Va.-- Students and staff of Stonewall Jackson High School and Osbourn Park High School took their competition to new heights by trying to out save one another....

FEDERAL WAY, Wash. -- The national push by credit unions to promote and brand the BizKid$ financial literacy show on public TV picked up new steam last week, with 311 stations now signed on and Hawaii the latest state to carry the episodes....

By MARC RAPPORT...

South Division Credit Union, Evergreen Park, Ill., is hosting a free community shred event on June 26. South Division is encouraging members to bring in up to three banker's size boxes of unwanted personal documents to shred. Also, as part of the statewide credit union consumer education drive I Belong South Division will distribute information about protection from identity theft. One family will also win a free heavy-duty home shredder....

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- PSCU Financial Services is driving home the point that rewards programs are not just for credit cards....

CAPITOLA, Calif. -- At the Santa Cruz Boardwalk Bowl on the weekend of April 26 and 27, if you were Bowling for Kids' Sake, it didn't matter what your score was; the idea was to have fun and raise funds for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Santa Cruz County. This annual event, which raised $108,000, provides over 25% of the annual budget and all proceeds support BBBS' mentoring programs throughout Santa Cruz County....

SEATTLE -- Jeffry Pilcher, creative director and strategist at Seattle-based Weber Marketing Group for the past eight years, has formed his own on-line branding firm, publication and blog....

By CAROL ANNE BURGER...

WASHINGTON -- NCUA Board Vice Chairman Rodney E. Hood is scheduled to be the featured speaker at the Illinois Credit Union League's Small CU Asset Size Conference in August....

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- More than 400 persons are now members of Meriwest Credit Union thanks to a popular certificate of deposit promotion....

By MICHELLE A. SAMAAD...

By CLAUDE R. MARX...

Impel Takes Holistic Approach to Build Credit Union Business Service Programs...

BEDFORD, Mass. -- Attacks on credit unions as a share of the thieves' market fell in April, but they still remained a favorite target of phishing fraudsters, according to the latest report from RSA Security. Meanwhile, the overall number of attacked brands decreased slightly during the month but still was the second highest so far this year. The RSA anti-fraud command center also said it saw attacks on 30 organizations that it had not previously seen targeted. The 7/24 worldwide anti-cyberfraud service also reported that the so-called Zeus Trojan (also known as wsnpoem) is increasingly being used in phishing attacks worldwide and that fraudsters are now offering each other the ability to rent a service to make the installation and deployment of such attacks easy for even non-sophisticated would-be online criminals....

ALBANY, N.Y. -- Financial literacy, allowing governments to deposit funds in credit unions and a dose of state politics were the big items on the agenda of the New York State Credit Union League's annual conference late last month....

BURNSVILLE, Minn. -- US Federal Credit Union has recently supported both area and national youth at the 2008 National LifeSmarts Championship.    LifeSmarts is an Internet-based program that teaches teens the importance of being an informed consumer. The organization is open to all U.S. students in grades 9-12, where they will work with an adult coach in teams of four to five students to compete in district and state matches before arriving to the national championship in Minneapolis.     The national event welcomed 29 teams from around the country to display their exceptional end user understanding and vie for the national LifeSmarts title.    Sponsored by the National Consumers League, many area professionals and businesses, including USFCU, were called upon to support our nation's youth in their Ultimate Consumer Challenge.    "USFCU is very happy to give its support for our youth and ongoing community education," said Bridget Kope, Bloomington branch manager. "This program is a wonderful opportunity for students to increase their knowledge of vital personal finance and consumer issues."...

LOWELL, Mass. -- Jeanne D'Arc Credit Union President/ CEO Mark S. Cochran has been inducted into Who's Who in America's Credit Unions for 2008....

PLEASANTON, Calif. -- The insolvent Sterlent Credit Union here is now operating under a management agreement with Patelco Credit Union of San Francisco. The $98 million asset institution posted a net income loss for the second quarter of $5.5 million and has been operating under a cease and desist order from the California Department of Financial Institutions since Feb. 20....

WASHINGTON -- It didn't take long for Michael E. Fryzel to have to defend credit unions before a panel of lawmakers....

RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif .-- With nearly one-third of all California credit unions reporting negative ROA during the first quarter, and relatively healthy credit unions announcing mergers, some are wondering just how bad things will get in the Golden State. ...

WASHINGTON -- One of the newest members of the House Financial Services got a first-hand education on credit unions....

Atlanta --Congressman Tom Price, Alpharetta Mayor Pro Tem Jim Paine and representatives of the North Fulton Chamber of Commerce joined officials from Georgia's Own Credit Union for the grand opening of its environmentally friendly Alpharetta location....

ELGIN, Ill. -- Seeking to please auditors urging more rigorous authentication of new and current members, Corporate America Family Credit Union turned to its online banking vendor....

WASHINGTON -- Some of the additional information that the IRS wants from nonfederal credit unions could be misconstrued and could disclose salary information of nonsenior executives, CUNA told the federal agency....

By MARC RAPPORT...

By MARC RAPPORT...

MIDDLETOWN, Pa. -- Mid-Atlantic Corporate Federal Credit Union (www.midatlanticcorp.org) has bought new ACH origination software from Fundtech Ltd....

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Online account opening and funding pioneer Andera Inc. said it has signed its 200th financial institution customer....

SUITLAND, Md. -- Andrews Federal Credit Union hopes to help get members dreaming again....

WINSTON SALEM, N.C. -- If you can say it and visualize it then you can save for it....

LONDON -- Credit unions and smaller issuers can now launch card customization programs that deliver strong ROI through an off-the-peg version of Serverside Group's flagship AllAboutMe online card designer....

TAMPA, Fla. -- GTE Federal Credit Union hopes to make the most of branch traffic with its latest Get In and Win membership promotion....

ARVADA, Colo. -- An Average Joe has got 18-35 year olds buzzing and it is no wonder since he seems to be everywhere from radio, television and billboards, to posting his own Facebook profile and MySpace page....

By MARC RAPPORT...

By MYRIAM DI GIOVANNI...

By MYRIAM DI GIOVANNI...

By MYRIAM DI GIOVANNI...

LONDON -- Credit unions and smaller issuers can now launch card customization programs that deliver strong ROI through an off-the-peg version of Serverside Group's flagship AllAboutMe online card designer....

By MYRIAM DI GIOVANNI...

Recently, I was chatting with a fellow marketer at an extremely large credit union and asked if she was going to attend one of the upcoming national credit union marketing conferences....

LONDON -- Credit unions and smaller issuers can now launch card customization programs that deliver strong ROI through an off-the-peg version of Serverside Group's flagship AllAboutMe online card designer....

Recently, I was chatting with a fellow marketer at an extremely large credit union and asked if she was going to attend one of the upcoming national credit union marketing conferences....

One doesn't need to leave the house anymore to start feeling nervous about the state of the American economy....

Recently, I was chatting with a fellow marketer at an extremely large credit union and asked if she was going to attend one of the upcoming national credit union marketing conferences....

Networking is an excellent way for credit union executives to find out what's going on around them in the community and get tips on how to do things better or trends coming down the pike. Networking also lets your competition in on your strategies and could provide greater competitive pressures when another credit union decides that your foray into some new product or service or geographic area is a good idea for them as well....

I am the Chairman of the CUNA committee for due diligence. CUNA formed the Due Diligence Task Force earlier this year to respond to concerns from credit unions and their regulators over how to best meet credit union's due diligence responsibilities involving third-party vendors without unnecessary duplication of effort. The committee has held a series of meetings and has a Web site with a great deal of information for credit unions at cuna.org....

HOBOKEN, N.J. -- Serving the underserved and low-income groups was the main topic across the front page of Credit Union Times 12 years ago....

MANCHESTER, N.H. -- When St. Mary's Bank Credit Union CEO Ron Rioux made the conversion from the banking industry to credit unions 15 years ago, he only needed to look up hill for a better understanding and inspiration....

MANCHESTER, N.H. -- NAFCU helped kick off the 100th anniversary celebration of America's Credit Union Museum, the site of the original St. Mary's Bank Credit Union--America's first--on June 4....

LEDYARD, Conn. -- Members United Corporate Federal Credit Union CEO Joseph Herbst told attendees at the corporate's Economic Forum here that unrealized losses are just that....

LEDYARD, Conn. -- If you take on risk, as credit unions do, you have to have enterprise risk management....

LEDYARD, Conn. -- Really it was only one government bail out--Bear Stearns--but to hear it from these economists, it might sound like two different stories....

LEDYARD, Conn. -- A diverse set of economists addressing Members United Corporate Federal Credit Union's Economic Forum last week agreed that credit unions' conservative business practices should prove a boon in the current market environment....

EASTFirst New York Federal Credit Union, Schenectady, N.Y., announced the promotion of Vincent LaChance to assistant branch manager of the Colonie branch. LaChance started at First New York in December 2002 as an accounting clerk. His most recent position was management trainee.St. Anne's Credit Union, Fall River, Mass., announced Ross R. Upton as the new president/CEO. Upton succeeds John R. Ledwidge who announced his retirement at St. Anne's annual meeting on March 30. Ledwidge served as president/CEO for 11 years and will continue to serve on the board of directors. Upton joined St. Anne's in 1993 as chief financial officer.Holy Rosary Credit Union, Rochester, N. H., announced the promotion of Rosemary Shields to vice president of branch administration. Shields joined Holy Rosary in 2000 as the Rochester branch supervisor. She most recently served as assistant vice president of branch administration.Affinity Federal Credit Union, Basking Ridge, N.J., announced the hiring of MaryAnne Melanson as assistant vice president, executive services. Melanson joins Affinity after working at AnySystem Group Holdings, Inc. for ten years as vice president....

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Texas Credit Union Foundation, Farmers Branch, Texas, awarded its Focus Awards in four categories: individual, project NEFE network, credit union and credit union chapter to honor commitment to financial education. Phillip Crocker, director of business development at Resource One Credit Union was given the individual focus award. A+ Federal Credit union was given the credit union focus award. The Forth Worth Chapter of Credit Unions was given the credit union chapter focus award. Larry Heitzman from Generations Federal Credit Union and Robin Garrison of Cooperative Extension Service were given special achievement awards in the project NEFE network focus award category....

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Corporate One Federal Credit Union has elected First Trust Credit Union President Ronald J. Budzinski; KEMBA Financial Credit Union President/CEO Gerald D. Guy; and PSE Credit Union President Janice L. Thomas to its board of directors....