MINNEAPOLIS -- Elan Financial Services, a subsidiary of US Bancorp, will offer agent issuing credit union partners the opportunity to issue the Visa Signature card....

DALLAS -- Texans Insurance Group was served with a new legal action on Oct. 22 for violating an arbitration ruling to reinstate the CUSO's former president, Kevin M. Curley, and award him additional compensation and benefits....

SAN DIEGO -- Adding business deposits as a potential lower cost of funds option may be one way credit unions can take advantage of growing their member business services programs as the financial landscape continues to morph....

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A falling interest rate environment and competition for liquidity sources have resulted in a run on CDs and a surge in business for certificate programs that cater to credit unions....

ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- NCUA Board Member Gigi Hyland is half way through her six-year tenure at the regulatory agency. She is the panel's only woman, Democrat and member with experience in the credit union movement. Before she joined board, she was senior vice president/general counsel for Empire Corporate Federal Credit Union in Albany, N.Y., and prior to that CUNA's vice president of corporate credit union relations and executive director for the Association of Corporate Credit Unions....

SAN MATEO, Calif. -- Sometimes the best way for a credit union to stand out is to state the obvious with a simple declaration: We are not a bank....

Since I've started writing this column, I've heard that I'm selfish, lazy, fickle and a whole slew of other negative characteristics that don't exactly line up with the credit union people helping people philosophy. ...

MANCHESTER, N.H. -- Steeped in grassroots and hope, the stories of African-American credit union pioneers are ones of quiet yet bold efforts to help grow a young movement....

NAPERVILLE, Ill. -- The Illinois Credit Union League is encouraging more of the state's credit unions to get involved with a federal program that can put relatively large lump sums of money in the hands of lower income credit union members....

WASHINGTON -- NAFCU is providing statement inserts so that credit unions can help inform their members about the availability of free credit reports and the dangers of identify theft--described by some as one of the fastest growing crimes in America....

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- In response to increased convention competition and a desire to include more members, Southeast Corporate FCU scrapped its 2008 annual convention in favor of a reception and business meeting this past spring and a series of fall forums in eight markets....

MADISON, Wis. -- An increase in short-term selling could be driven by government measures to get national and worldwide financial systems back on track coupled with the stock market flip flops....

BOSTON -- Much ballyhooed but rarely quantified, online banking is now seen as essential component to both individual and business credit union members....

TAMPA, Fla. -- At Florida's larget credit union, software has replaced what has traditionally been one of the most manual of processes--managing safe deposit boxes....

CAMBRDIGE, Mass. -- A standard operating procedure for credit unions for decades, collaborative competition--or co-opetition--is finding a new home in a perhaps unexpected arena: big banks....

FARMERS BRANCH, Texas -- The first group of employees who suffered property losses during Hurricane Ike began signing up last week for the Texas Credit Union League's Adopt a Family online service....

ARLINGTON, Va. -- Credit union card balances and the rate of charge-offs have both been rising over the past year in the U.S, according to NCUA data, but not in the same states....

WASHINGTON -- Industry observers think that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, now in conservatorship, could be reconstituted in one of several different forms. But they admit that the current, ever changing financial crises and the upcoming elections have put reorganization--in other times a huge consideration--on the back burner....

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Affinity Plus Federal Credit Union, in partnership with Credit Union Student Choice, has launched a new loan product aimed at filling in the gaps in college financing often left by federal student aid....

SAN DIEGO -- California officials have ramped up their attempts to stem the tide of foreclosures in the Golden State by filing two more lawsuits against lenders accused of predatory lending....

EAGAN, Minn. -- The Minnesota Credit Union Network hosted a fraud workshop that educated representatives from 12 credit unions on mass marketing scams in Minnesota and how credit unions work on fraud prevention....

WASHINGTON -- President Bush signed two bills to help students obtain college financing and veterans keep their homes....

MADISON, Wis. -- The industry should expect to see a slowdown in membership growth for the rest of the year based on historic seasonal trends coupled with return on asset declines....

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- In its first appearance as a vendor at the Indiana Credit Union League's annual convention in Indianapolis, Member First Mortgage LLC, has received the best of show award....

LAS VEGAS -- If you see a few gray hairs on the heads of Nevada Federal Credit Union employees, it's not surprising....

WASHINGTON -- Amid the market turbulence, the majority of clients are choosing to stick with their existing plans, a survey of more than 5,000 certified financial planners revealed....

WASHINGTON -- Federal Housing Finance Board Member Geoff Bacino has left government and forged a lobbying alliance with one the most prominent firms in town....

MECHANICSBURG, Pa. -- As an avenue to provide credit unions access to business loans for sale, Members 1st Federal Credit Union has launched a new loan participation Web site....

NEW YORK -- When the going gets tough, the tough don't retire. That is one of the lessons Clifford Rosenthal, CEO of the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions has drawn from the current down economy....

WASHINGTON -- The latest round of grants from the National Credit Union Foundation will go to support lower income entrepreneurship training in North Carolina, Latino homebuyers in Iowa and America's Credit Union Museum in New Hampshire....

BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. -- In a tragic turn of events, former Credit Union Times Special Assignments Reporter Carol Anne Burger and her ex-partner Jessica Kalish are at the center of a murder-suicide....

ELGIN, Ill. -- Lending Solutions Inc. provides collections outsourcing services to credit unions that are struggling to address the rise in delinquencies in the current economy....

WASHINGTON -- As the government continues to work out its next moves to help right the credit crunch and market gyrations, credit unions are sorting through their priorities....

WASHINGTON -- No matter which party controls the U.S. House after the elections, one thing is already clear before the votes have been counted: the next speaker will be someone backed by the credit unions....

LENEXA, Kan. -- The question wasn't whether exposure to Lehman Brothers and distressed mortgage-backed securities would affect the bottom lines of the first two major corporates to release Sept. 30 financials. The question was by how much....

WAUWATOSA, Wis. -- Home123 has selected Central States Mortgage to provide its mortgage and financial services....

ST. LOUIS, Mo. -- Tucson Old Pueblo Credit Union and design-build firm NewGround have won CUNA's best practice award for branch design....

WASHINGTON -- The Federal Reserve has approved amendments to Home Mortgage Disclosure Act rules that change the threshold for reporting price information on higher priced loans....

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. -- SilverCloud Knowledge Systems said it has added three new clients in the past month and expanded relationships with two others....

WASHINGTON -- Credit unions are slowly starting to get into the Health Savings Account game....

ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- While marketers tout social networking sites as another channel to better connect with members, it may be time for human resource departments to head online to recruit the cream of the crop....

I would bet my bottom dollar that if we were able to listen in on conversations of credit union leaders everywhere over the last month the word "opportunity" would probably be one of the most frequently spoken words....

Without the proper equipment, a rock climber's chances of tumbling off the side of a cliff increase. Likewise, the current economic climate is pushing some lenders and financial institutions to the edge of the metaphorical cliff. Credit unions are at a crux: manage their risk wisely with solid, sound practices to best serve members or suffer the consequences with increased repossessions....

We could go on ad infinitum about the recent events taking place in financial markets today--the causes of the credit crisis, why the stock market continues to fall, the long-term impact this crisis will have on the economy and how (and when) it will be resolved. In fact, the story has been told and retold in every newspaper, online blog and TV program over the past few weeks. October comprised a string of historical events, the most pronounced being the worst weekly loss in the history of the Dow Jones industrial average (down 18%)....

Members are the movement....

The Center for Retirement Research issued a report in February that said that 61% of Americans were "at risk" of not being able to enjoy the same standard of living in retirement as they did when working. The report defines someone at risk if they retired at age 65 and their savings, Social Security and pension benefits combined falls at least 10% short of covering basic living expenses, including increasing health care costs. One month later in March, Fidelity Investments released its annual health care cost estimate, which predicted a 65-year-old couple retiring in 2008 will spend approximately $225,000 on medical costs during the rest of their lifetime. The dollar amount has increased 41% since 2002 when Fidelity first began reporting the estimate....

From the financial crisis to uncertain job security, the economy is increasing stress levels for employees and their families. The workforce is on an emotional roller coaster. Likewise, employers are struggling over balancing workers' fears and well-being and the need to manage productivity....

Election season is always filled with predictions and erratic polls. A month ago, Barack Obama was crushing John McCain in the polls; many more recent polls put the race within the margin of error with Obama still up....

The article, "Examining Corporate Balance Sheets" (CU Times, Oct. 15), on corporate credit unions is fairly balanced and should enlighten those who want to believe the worst about corporates. Credit unions and corporates are dealing with the current serious situation very effectively....

New York -- Johnette Hartnett, director of public policy for the National Disability Institute spoke at The National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions' financial literacy day last month about her work touring the country to provide financial literacy to the disabled....

MidSouth Federal Credit Union, Macon, Ga., announced the recipients of its 2008 Tom Bentley memorial high school and continuing education scholarship programs. Amanda Gregg was awarded the 2008 high school scholarship. Gregg is a graduate of Georgia Military College Prep School and is attending Valdosta State University. The high school scholarship is a $4,000 award that is paid in installments of $1,000 per year. Andrea Dinkens was awarded the 2008 continuing education scholarship. Dinkens recently completed her associates degree in paralegal studies at Central Georgia Technical College. Her future plans are to obtain her health and life insurance licenses at CGTC and complete her bachelor's degree in pre-law at Georgia College and State University. The continuing education scholarship is a $2,000 award that is paid in installments of $500 per year....

Postal Credit Union, Woodbury, Minn., held a groundbreaking ceremony for its new Eagan office. Eagan Mayor Mike Maguire, City Administrator Tom Hedges, Community Development Director Jon Hohenstein, State Senator Jim Carlson, State Representative Sandra Masin, PCU Board Chairman Jim Bryan, PCU President Russ Plunkett, PCU Board and executive staff, representatives from the Dakota County Regional Chamber, architects from the Collaborative Design Group and contractors from James Steele donned hardhats bearing the PCU logo and held gold shovels to officially kick off construction on the new site. The new office will be approximately 3,560 square feet and feature an open teller arrangement, three drive-thru lanes, a drive-up, surcharge-free ATMs and complete member and cash services. The construction will feature day light in all spaces, insulating concrete forms wall construction, superinsulation and rain gardens to eliminate storm water run-off and a large portion of the site will be restored to natural prairie. ...

KILLDEER, N.D. -- For the Yogerst family, there's something satisfying about being in the wide open, green spaces under crystal blue skies herding cattle and tilling the land....

FORT WORTH, Texas -- When a long-time friend was in desperate need of a life-saving kidney, Teresa Shafer didn't hesitate when she offered hers....

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- City County Credit Union Supervisory Committee Member Mack MacVicar and his wife Andrea have a dream of giving away $1 million, and they hope a little black Labrador will help make it a reality....

PENSACOLA, Fla. -- John A. Davis, a 26-year veteran of the industry and the president/CEO of Pen Air Federal Credit Union, Pensacola, has died. He was 52....

EAST...

SAC Federal Credit Union in Omaha is opening a new grocery store branch in Council Bluffs, Iowa, this month. As a result of a typographical error, an article in the Oct. 15 issue of Credit Union Times gave an incorrect location....