ST. LOUIS -- Approximately 135 St. Louis-area credit union members are better informed consumers because they invested two hours of their time to attend a free seminar on credit scores and how to improve those scores.The St. Louis Chapter of Credit Unions sponsored the free seminar last month that was open to the public....

PLANO, Texas -- A glimmer of hope inched into economic news recently as Brian Turner, director of advisory services for Southwest Corporate Invest-ment Services reported that first quarter economic growth rose at a 0.9% pace. Turner called it "an encouraging sign during a time when pockets of the housing market continued to struggle and higher food and energy prices impacted disposable income."...

ATLANTA -- Wayne Orr, supervisory manager of credit unions and banks for Georgia's Department of Banking and Finance, retired on June 1 after 36 years of service....

EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Michigan State University Federal Credit Union has presented a $2.5 million gift to MSU's Wharton Center for Performing Arts to fund the new Institute for Arts and Creativity and continue its support of the Broadway series....

WASHINGTON -- Even though nothing has been formally proposed, credit unions are trying to ensure that Charleston, W.Va., doesn't use its new taxing powers to tax them....

LOS ALAMOS, N.M. -- The saga wages on at Del Norte Credit Union here as the credit unions' legal team trades jabs with a member who may or may not be a member of the supervisory committee....

WASHINGTON -- Credit unions are gearing up to try to defeat a Senate measure that would cap interchange fees, which they argue would hurt credit unions and make credit less available to consumers....

HOUSTON -- The anguish plaguing the airline industry continues to come fast and furious with two major airlines recently announcing they would not only have to eliminate jobs but cut back on flights as they reel from the endless surge in fuel costs....

PASADENA, Calif. -- Wescom Credit Union has added reverse mortgages to its real estate product suite, and will process the new loans through its own company, Reverse Mortgage Lending Inc....

HIGHSTOWN, N.J. -- Citing the need to streamline its governance in line with demographics and geography, the New Jersey Credit Union League announced last week it has proposed to its membership a restructuring of its board and election process....

WASHINGTON -- The big spike in air travel expense and gas prices could cut deeply into credit union travel budgets for 2009, CU executives say, but for now registrations for a spate of industry conferences this summer are holding up well....

RIVERSIDE, Calif. -- In the midst of upheavals within the financial services arena, Altura Credit Union is relying on its in-house talent to continue to keep the forward momentum going....

PLANO, Texas -- Southwest Corporate has reached a significant milestone in its conversion of paper to image processing: 400 member credit unions and 1,500 branches are now depositing checks remotely using imaging technology....

ALBANY, N.Y. -- The New York Credit Union Foundation is doing its part to help local consumers in the identity theft fight....

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NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. -- Motivated by what credit union investment program managers are doing in California, six executives are hoping to replicate a networking group model to bring colleagues together in their respective states....

DES MOINES -- Hoping to create membership gains for Iowa credit unions, the Iowa Credit Union League is working on financial analyses and concrete business plans this September for CUs to consider resulting from last year's growth commission....

WASHINGTON -- Six individuals, two credit unions and 14 credit union marketing entries have won NAFCU's 2008 Award programs and will be honored at the group's annual meeting next month in San Diego....

SAN FRANCISCO -- Visa Inc. announced the winners of its 2007 Visa Service Quality Performance Awards that recognizes exceptional card operations performance by issuers, acquirers and processors....

MADISON, Wis. -- CUNA Mutual and the CUNA Lending Council announced that nominations are now being accepted for the ninth annual Excellence in Lending Awards....

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. -- NACUSO has hired Jim Jerving to write and manage NACUSO's new blog journal entries....

SILVER SPRING, Md. -- Opportunity knocks for credit unions to better serve the Latino community....

BOISE, Idaho -- Idaho credit unions held a year-long fundraising competition last year, raising $211,000 for the Children's Miracle Network through their Credit Unions for Kids program....

MINEOLA, N.Y. -- CommunityDevelopmentBanking-L list archives have been restored after they were brought down by a hacker attack last November....

CU Times Correspondent-at-Large...

SHERMAN OAKS, Calif. -- In response to higher gas prices, commuters are parking their SUVs and low-mileage cars in record numbers....

NEENAH, Wis. -- For credit unions, the cost of $4.00-plus gas last week turned into both a loan opportunity and an internal dilemma....

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Technology Credit Union is proof that slow and steady makes all the difference in the health savings account race....

WASHINGTON -- In the political equivalent of Ohio State and Michigan setting aside their differences, credit unions and community banks are on the same page in opposing a proposed overhaul of financial regulation put forth by the Treasury Department....

PHILADELPHIA -- Philadelphia Federal Credit Union hosted a safari adventure to show employees they care....

WASHINGTON -- The CUNA Mutual Group Board of Directors has elected a retired consultant and a credit union president to its board....

GREENWOOD VILLAGE, Colo. -- First Data released the findings of the 2007 Consumer Payments Usage and Segmentation Study that discovered trends in debit card and related products.The study found that the percentage of cardholders who have used their ATM/debit cards in the last 30 days is continuing to increase from 2006. The 2006 findings reported 85% of those surveyed had used their ATM/debit cards in the last 30 days, but the 2007 findings showed a slight increase to 87%. The percentage of cardholders that have used their card in the past 30 days to pay for goods and services also saw an increase from 2006, with 70% reported for 2006 and 74% for 2007....

CU Aid Raises Funds for Last Year's San Diego Fire Victims...

WASHINGTON -- NASCUS is sponsoring classes for board members who want to learn about regulation and corporate governance....

DES MOINES, Iowa -- The FORUM Solutions' 2008 Partnership Symposium that will be held this fall in Indianapolis will feature Jeff Russell, vice president of strategic development for The Members Group, who will speak about how credit unions will deliver financial servicesin the future....

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Judy Tharp, president/CEO of the $220 million Piedmont Aviation Credit Union, is now a Triad magazine celebrity thanks to a cover story on her appearing in the June issue of Forsyth Woman....

SAN DIEGO -- Ernst and Young has named Valorie Seyfert, CEO of CUSO Financial Services LP, as its Ernst and Young's 2008 entrepreneur of the year in the business services category for the San Diego region and Dave Serlo, president/CEO of PSCU Financial Services for the Florida region....

NEEDHAM, Mass. - With advances often come challenges....

WASHINGTON -- In the political equivalent of Ohio State and Michigan setting aside their differences, credit unions and community banks are on the same page in opposing a proposed overhaul of financial regulation put forth by the Treasury Department....

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Technology Credit Union is proof that slow and steady makes all the difference in the health savings account race....

CHATSWORTH, Calif. -- Telesis Community Credit Union CEO Grace Mayo said gas prices are so high in Southern California that commuters are changing their habits....

WASHINGTON-- Eleven credit union professionals and volunteers from Minnesota met with members of the state's congressional delegation and with NCUA Board Chairman JoAnn Johnson during a Hike the Hill from June 3-5....

WASHINGTON -- Credit unions must provide prospective lenders with a mortgage summary within three business days of receiving a loan application, according to a new law that took effect last week....

RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif. -- CO-OP Financial Services has introduced a service intended to free credit union staff from daily ATM terminal maintenance....

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- Digital Dialogue said it signed 10 new credit union clients in the first quarter of 2008....

AUSTIN, Texas -- University Federal Credit Union will be converting to the Symitar Episys core processing system, the company and credit union said....

TEMPLE, Texas -- Texell Federal Credit Union plans to use Goldleaf Financial Solutions Inc. for Web hosting services that also include compliance and marketing help....

GLASTONBURY, Conn. -- Three credit unions have recently committed to the Complete Credit Union Solution core processing platform from Open Solutions Inc....

DEERFIELD BEACH, Fla. -- Intercontinental Warranty Services has updated the Web site it uses to help market and provide educational information about the vehicle protection services it sells exclusively through credit unions....

CEDAR PARK, Texas -- Integrated Bank Technology said it now is offering a thin-client version of its Integrated Image Teller software....

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Got $350 million or more in assets and time to answer a detailed survey?...

Delta Community Credit Union, Atlanta, celebrated the grand opening of its Johnson Ferry Road branch located in Marietta, Ga. Delta Community partnered with LEVEL5 for the design of the new branch. Delta Community earned a first place Diamond Award for its retail branch merchandising for credit unions with assets over $1 billion for its previous work with LEVEL5....

In these days of shrinking margins, many credit unions are looking for additional ways to boost revenues and deepen member relationships. One way Greylock Federal Credit Union is achieving this is through its CUSO and specifically its wholly owned insurance agency. Most banks and credit unions of any size have at least considered getting into the agency business. Most still have not pursued the idea of starting an agency. Many that have are very successful, while others have not been successful even to the point of selling off their agencies...

Health Savings Accounts are a portable, tax-advantaged savings vehicle that works in tandem with a high-deductible health plan. They were created to help people save and pay for medical expenses tax-free. Since their introduction in 2004, growth projections for HSAs have been heady. Today, we have more than forecasts to validate the HSA market. America's Health Insurance Plans recently reported that over six million people are now covered by HSA-eligible health plans. If each of these people opened an HSA (and so far, about 2 million have), wouldn't you want the credit union industry to capture its share of these accounts? Would your credit union be ready?...

PHOENIX -- At Desert Schools Credit Union, when it comes to benefits it is all about choice....

WASHINGTON -- The IRS has published the 2009 inflation-adjusted deduction limits for health savings accounts...

WASHINGTON -- A report from the Government Accountability Office finds that the number of individuals participating in HSA-eligible health plans and HSAs increased significantly between 2004 and 2007. However, in all years, many HSA-eligible plan enrollees did not open an HSA.            ...

Despite spending many hours responding to all kinds of legal papers, credit unions don't always understand which ones they are required to answer. Legal notices come from lawyers, judgment creditors, taxing authorities and child support agencies and credit unions are named as trustees of member accounts in civil lawsuits. Must you respond to every notice? If the notice is from a court or agency in your state, the answer is probably yes. If the notice is from out of state (and is not for child support arrearages or from a federal agency), the answer could well be no....

After eight years of observation, credit unions still amaze me in more ways than one. I was planning on writing my column about...

Your reporter David Morrison prepared several high-quality articles on the Del Norte Credit Union situation. (See CU Times, May 21, 2008, page 1.)...

Credit Union Times has a goal for 2008 to include Letters to the Editor in nearly every, if not all, issues. We had letters in nearly every issue of 2007....

How did I become my father? I believe men have asked themselves this question time and again as they look in the mirror in the morning. Or when I say something or do something that I swore I would never say or do to my kids. Yet, the face I shave looks remarkably like the man standing in family...

DALLAS -- U.S. Treasurer Anna Escobedo Cabral pulled from her own personal experiences of growing up in a low-income farming family to advise credit unions on ways to serve the low-income and underserved....

Georgia Federal Credit Union, Duluth, Ga., announced the recipients of the 14th annual Vernon E. Carne scholarship. A total of $10,000 in scholarships is awarded to 11 high school seniors in honor of the founder of Georgia FCU. The selection criterion includes individual essays on how teens can personally benefit and achieve their goals by participating in credit union membership, academic achievement and community involvement. The first place $3,000 scholarship recipient was Winnie Markey who attends Forsyth Central High School. Markey was accepted to Polytechnic University where she plans to major in architecture....

ALBANY, N.Y. -- The New York Credit Union Foundation has appointed three new individuals to its board of trustees....

HELENA, Mont. -- Avanta Federal Credit Union's seven member board has been singled out for its commitment and countless contributions to the Montana Credit Union movement....