The Virginia Bankers Association moved ahead this week to formally introduce bills in the state legislature permitting banks to "consolidate or merge" with credit unions and vice versa.

The more than half dozen U.S. credit unions all with historic links to Eaton Corp., the Cleveland-based manufacturer, are one less this month following a merger between Ohio and Illinois CUs.

The $13 billion Pentagon Federal Credit Union is looking at 2010 as another year to stay lean and increase income considering the nation's "credit crisis may not be finished," according to its president/CEO Frank Pollack.

Marking a new phase in its Chicago area expansion, the $125 million Premier Credit Union of Palatine, Ill. is merging this month the $5 million Maine Township Schools CU of nearby Park Ridge.

The $1.5 billion Chartway Federal Credit Union in Virginia has made good on a month-old NCUA pledge to merge with a troubled Utah credit union and thereby expand to a 10-state footprint.

From Vermont to California, credit unions spotlighted by the national media in the current anti-big bank furor are expressing newfound delight this week at their safe-haven status.

Las Vegas has become the industry hot spot this month for heated public dialogue about federal vs. private insurance with both NCUA Chairman Debbie Matz and American Share Insurance CEO Dennis Adams taking turns at media megaphones.

The Web-based FoolProof literacy package being promoted by the Credit Union Associations of Colorado/Wyoming is gaining more state leagues as partners and adding sizable numbers of high school students.