DALLAS -- The Hurricane Ike fundraising campaign providing disaster relief to industry victims stepped up the pace last week with plans unveiled for a $100,000 celebrity golf tournament Nov. 18 at a Dallas country club....

BALTIMORE -- Municipal Employees Credit Union of Baltimore and the National Academy Foundation High School-Baltimore have made history by opening the first student-run credit union in Baltimore....

JACKSON, Mich. -- Cascades Credit Union announced last week that it plans to merge its membership with EECU-A Community Credit Union by first quarter 2009....

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- Xceed Financial Credit Union is helping one 17-year-old environmentalist's dream come true....

BALTIMORE --While credit unions generally so far have been able to stay clear of the fray, they are not entirely immune from the overall financial marketplace mess. Credit Union Times asked several industry leaders their opinions of the impact of the credit on bubble on several parts of their operations: lending--including mortgage, auto and student loans--as well as CUs basic structure and competitiveness....

MADISON, Wis. -- CUNA's new Security Certification School granted Security Fraud Expert credentials to 11 credit union professionals in September....

LA HABRA, Calif. -- American First Credit Union is mourning the loss of Vice President of Human Resources Catherine Busse, who died at the age of 46 after sustaining injuries from a bicycle accident....

WASHINGTON -- As guests sipped coffee and ate treats such as crème brûlée, longtime members of the credit union community used the occasion of International Credit Union Day to extol the movement's international accomplishments....

AUGUSTA, Maine -- As anticipated, the board of the $51 million KV Federal Credit Union voted on Oct. 14 to approve a plan to merge with a local mutual bank....

WASHINGTON -- It's a new world....

SAN FRANCISCO -- The U.S. Zopa model, heralded a year ago as an innovative membership tool to attract a youthful audience from YouTube and Facebook, is headed for the scrap heap....

HAVERHILL, Mass. -- Members of the $97 million Northeast Community Credit Union have approved the merger between their credit union and a local community bank....

RIVERDALE, Utah -- Members of Intermountain Credit Union will be meeting on Oct. 28 to vote on whether or not to merge with America First Credit Union. The "emergency" merger is the result of a number of failed real estate loans that have left Intermountain facing insolvency....

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- Who cares about gift cards? People want cash....

MERIDEN, Conn. -- Small area credit unions are getting some help from the Credit Union League of Connecticut....

WASHINGTON -- Credit unions have a good friend in a very high place on Capitol Hill, and that could come in handy during the upcoming debate on overhauling financial services regulation....

INGLESIDE, Texas -- For its volunteerism and community support, the Ingleside Chamber of Commerce has named Security Service Federal Credit Union its 2008 large business of the year recipient....

LENEXA, Kan. -- To give members the ability to apply for their payday loan alternative anywhere they have Internet access, XtraCash LLC has launched an online payday loan application and processing system....

SAN FRANCISCO -- The $8 million Mission San Francisco Federal Credit Union drew more than 100 people, including local dignitaries and officials, to the grand opening of its new retail branch....

WASHINGTON -- Credit unions should be putting the final touches on their plans for protecting their members' accounts from identity theft....

SAN DIMAS, Calif. -- An estimated 450 viewers from 14 countries participated in a first-ever International Credit Union Day Webcast sponsored by Western Corporate Federal Credit Union and the World Council of Credit Unions. The Oct. 16 event, produced by WesCorp's Overland Studios in front of a live, studio audience was moderated by Home & Family Finance Radio host Paul Berry and WesCorp's Walter Laskos and featured WOCCU President Pete Crear as the guest....

SAN DIEGO -- Small businesses can turn to CUSOs as they find their way out of a "fog of economic uncertainty," John Wade, financial analyst with the Small Business Administration, told attendees at a NACUSO conference here....

GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Matthew Tebbetts, vice president of marketing for Greenville Federal Credit Union, has taken action to stand out and show exactly what sets credit unions apart from other financial institutions....

RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif. -- From Maine to California, the industry fired up expensive and extensive safety and soundness media campaigns with an eye both of gaining market share and assuring the public of the wisdom of doing business with credit unions....

ALBANY, N.Y. -- With October being National Breast Cancer Awareness month Capital Communications Credit Union has shown its support for the cause by not only being a flagship sponsor of the "Making Strides Against Breast Cancer" walk but by allowing its employees to volunteer for the Road to Recovery program through out the year....

BROOKLYN, N.Y. -- The $1.2 billion Polish and Slavic Federal Credit Union played an even larger role than usual in this year's Pulaski Day Parade in New York. The annual day, scheduled for the first Sunday in October, celebrates the arrival of Poles in America. This year was the 400th anniversary....

ATLANTA -- Personal navigation devices are the latest piece of technology to come to shared branching....

NEW YORK -- Fitch Ratings downgraded three corporate credit unions Oct. 16 and placed a fourth on watch negative with a partial downgrade....

BOSTON -- Skittish brokers worried about the future of their employers and the ability to grow their book of business may be thinking about jumping ship to credit unions and other nontraditional industries....

BALTIMORE --While credit unions generally so far have been able to stay clear of the fray, they are not entirely immune from the overall financial marketplace mess. Credit Union Times asked several industry leaders their opinions of the impact of the credit on bubble on several parts of their operations: lending--including mortgage, auto and student loans--as well as CUs basic structure and competitiveness....

WALTHAM, Mass. -- With new Red Flag identity theft rules adding more weight to the compliance load that financial institutions must carry, where are credit unions turning for help?...

ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- The NCUA has assumed control of High Desert FCU, which lost $4.6 million in the second quarter of 2008....

WALTHAM, Mass. -- With new Red Flag identity theft rules adding more weight to the compliance load that financial institutions must carry, where are credit unions turning for help?...

CHANTILLY, Va. -- Rifat Ikram had been thinking about securing e-mail for a while now, well before the Red Flag rules made such measures mandatory....

Recent issues, including terrorist threats and identity theft, have resulted in a flurry of additional information-security regulations over the last decade. As credit unions walk a fine line between protecting their members' data and ensuring they have the necessary resources to comply with regulations, the high cost of compliance continues to climb year after year. With the NCUA and state regulators' shift toward a risk-focused examination program, the Bank Security Act and IT security compliance are two areas in which IT service providers receive a high volume of questions and provide a great deal of assistance....

WASHINGTON -- Leading corporate, government and academic institutions have joined together to form a new group that will focus on developing research and solutions for identity management challenges seen in today's society....

FRESNO, Calif. -- Using high-tech tools to validate snail-mail addresses is helping the bottom line at Educational Employees Credit Union at the same time it's helping hold down the Red Flags....

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. -- Positive Networks offers a product called PhoneFactor that allows credit unions to offer members protection even if they fall victim to a phishing attack....

HOBOKEN, N.J. -- Shred day events so commonly held by credit unions may seem like a simple way to promote green practices and member security, but actually they can do much more for a credit union than many may think....

In order to write this, four people are currently holding my head to keep it from spinning. The pace of new information and real volatility in global financial markets is simply dizzying and even nauseating. I'll attempt to provide some perspective and guidance here at the risk of everything changing by the time you get to read this....

We love to hear from our readers about what's on their minds whether it's a letter to the editor or an opinion piece. But I have turned down a few lately, which has led to this column....

Credit unions that issue credit cards may soon be coming upon some tough times in terms of reduced profitability of their star performing product. The national media is communicating how consumer spending is down by double digits, and we are in for a much slower holiday spending season. Mainstream industry experts on the likes of CNN, MSNBC, Fox and CNBC are encouraging consumers to hang on to their money and cut erroneous spending. The message being sent to consumers is maintain humility, cut back and check your ego at the door. You can no longer afford to keep up with the Jones!...

Credit Union Times is getting ready for 2009....

EAST...

Los Angeles Federal Credit Union, Los Angeles, celebrated International Credit Union Week by giving a free commemorative gift to anyone who visited their branch. The credit union exemplified the It Belongs to Me theme and underlined that credit unions were found for service. Los Angeles Federal Credit Union celebrated Credit Union Week at all of its branches....

NEW YORK -- Dan Iannicola, deputy assistant secretary for the U.S. Treasury Department, talked about the big picture and resources when it comes to financial literacy during the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions' Financial Literacy Day....

NEW YORK -- Thom Dellwo, financial education coordinator at Cooperative Federal Credit Union in Syracuse, N.Y., demonstrated for Financial Literacy Day attendees how he teaches financial literacy to a young audience....