PSCU Financial Services, a major payment processing CUSO, announced that its credit union owners will receive a total dividend of $17.9 million dollars from its 2009 operations.

This represents a decrease from last year's $45.4 million dividend that also included proceeds from the Visa USA initial public offering of stock. In terms of money from processing operations, this year's dividend represent a 67% over last year's processing dividend of $10.7 million, a spokesman for the CUSO explained.

"In these tough times, having this cash inflow can help credit unions continue to maintain staffing levels and promote financial services that will attract new members and earn additional business from existing members," said Craig Esrael, president of First South Credit Union, Memphis, Tenn., and Chairman of PSCU's Board of Directors. "One credit union executive told me the dividend payout accounted for more than 20% of their net income for the year. We hope these dividends will enable our members to gain market share during this unique economic environment," he said.