Credit unions seeking to diversify and tailor their ATM strategies were offered yet another possible alternative last week as two industry players announced a new surcharge free initiative.

Credit Union 24, the large credit union owned ATM and EFT network that is headquartered in Florida, said that there are indications that credit unions have begun to put a greater value on credit union ownership of their vendors and networks.

TNB Card Services, the card portfolio processing arm of credit union owned Town North Bank, has rolled out a product designed to help credit unions who process with the bank to better understand the flow of card data they receive.

The role of credit union partnerships in community development as well as financial services received the attention of an unusual audience on Aug. 24 in Detroit when Clifford Rosenthal, executive director of the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions addressed a national conference sponsored by the U.S. Justice Department.

Ted Stearns, the owner of Tradeline Solutions, a company which facilitates the of the use of "authorized users" to strong credit lines as a means of helping consumers boost their credit scores, defends his company's line of work as benefiting both consumers and credit unions.

A business has put up an Internet site that offers to help consumers with poor credit scores by adding them as authorized users of consumers with good credit scores.

Credit unions around the nation are generally seeing significantly improved credit card portfolio performance, according to an analysis of second quarter card portfolio activity.

Lafayette Federal Credit Union appears to be shrinking.