Banking Wire articles from April 2003

Banking Wire archives from April 2003

View On Fed, State Charter Cooperation Was Right On.(Letter to the Editor)
April 1, 2003... Frank Diekmann is to be commended for calling on federally chartered credit unions nationwide to join their state-chartered colleagues in fighting such bank-inspired initiatives as the state-by-state campaign to tax credit unions (March 3,...

Bankruptcy Viewpoint Seems To Miss An Important Point.(Letter to the Editor)
April 1, 2003... I just finished reading Jim Blaine's article in Feb. 24 issue of The Credit Union Journal, and even though I am somewhat uncomfortable being aligned with some of our "allies" in the push for reform, I find one sentence in the article to...

Hooray For Bankruptcy View: It's Not To Be An Easy Out.(Letter to the Editor)
April 1, 2003... Hooray, for Lucile P. Beckwith on her opinion of the Bankruptcy Reform bill! (CU Journal, Feb. 24). She has put it all in a nutshell. I know it must be difficult to get all aspects of a bill the way we want it, the first time through, but...

Product & Service.
April 1, 2003... CUNA Mutual Ranked No. 1 MADISON, Wis.-The CUNA Mutual Group has for the second consecutive year been ranked No. 1 in client satisfaction in plan administration-record keeping in the small retirement-plan marketplace (plans under $1...

Hats Being Tossed In Ring For Dollar's NCUA Seat.
April 1, 2003... The game is afoot. Candidates are already throwing their hat into the ring for the NCUA board seat of Chairman Dennis Dollar, whose six-year term on the three-person panel expires next month. Because the nominating and confirmation...

CUNA May Join Missouri Fight If Bankers Also Do.
April 1, 2003... The American Bankers Association has entered the fray here over the bankers ability to challenge credit unions. The ABA asked a state appellate court for permission to join the Missouri Bankers Association in asking the state appeals court...

NCUA Seeking Reg Relief Provision On SEC License.
April 1, 2003... NCUA is working with lawmakers to get a new provision added to the regulatory relief bill expected to be introduced in the House over the coming weeks. Those provisions would expand the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act's exemption from broker-dealer...

First Utah State Charter Is Ok'd For Move To Federal.
April 1, 2003... NCUA approved the first of what is expected to be a number of credit unions fleeing the Utah state charter for a new federal charter last month. Although Cyprus CU, the $185-million Magna-based credit union, applied for a federal charter...

Community Conversion Slow; 2 Large FOMs OK'd.
April 1, 2003... NCUA said it approved only five conversions to community charter last month, the same as in January, the fewest in several years. But two of the community charters approved in February were among the biggest ever, including a grant for...

Numerica CU Guarantee Key To Low-Income Housing.
April 1, 2003... Numerica Credit Union has played a pivotal role in the creation of a low- income housing project here by guaranteeing future financing for a local non- profit organization. And, it is helping the credit union's bottom line. According to...

NCUA: 61% Of FCUs Are Eligible For RegFlex.
April 2, 2003... At year-end, 2002, NCUA said 3,650 federal credit unions were determined to be eligible for RegFlex, the designation created to reduce regulatory burden on strongly-capitalized, well-managed federal credit unions. According to NCUA,...

Technology Brings End To Mass. Interest Rate Survey.
April 2, 2003... This state's Division of Banks is about to publish its last survey of interest rates paid by and charged by Massachusetts' banks. The state legislature has repealed the statutory requirement that the Division of Banks collect and publish...

Shared Branches In Louis. Hit 50 With Latest Branch.
April 2, 2003... The opening of New Orleans Firemen's FCU branch in Lutcher, La. has brought to 50 the number of locations available in the state through the Shared Service Center Network's affiliate here, CU Cooperative Branching, Inc. Since its...

CU's New Mortgage Plan Targets First-Time Buyers.
April 2, 2003... Firstmark CU has launched a program that will provide 100% financing for mortgages for educators, safety workers and healthcare workers. The "Educator's Mortgage Program," offered through the credit union's mortgage partner, Southwest...

Products, Services For Boosting SEGs, Penetration.
April 2, 2003... Attendees at The Credit Union Journal's SEG & Business Development Conference here found a dozen companies offering products and services aimed at boosting business from members. Among them: Counter Intelligence Associates, San Juan...

Simple Premise Often Separates The Winner And Loser CUs.
April 2, 2003... What is the very simple difference between a high-performing credit union and its low-performing counterpart? According to Robert Lawhead, president and CEO of Raddon Financial Group, it all comes down to member participation. In...

Advice From New Community Charter.
April 2, 2003... There is a lot more to converting to a community charter than a name change or a new sign. Deb McLean, vice president of marketing for Charlotte Metro CU, said her credit union has learned many of those lessons over the past few years,...

15 Steps To Ensuring Success In Recruiting New SEGs.
April 2, 2003... Credit unions are being offered a 15-step process for successfully recruiting new SEGs. In remarks before The Credit Union Journal's SEG & Business Development Conference, Bob Hoel, executive director of the Filene Research Institute,...

Research Finds '10 Wows!' For Winning Over New Members.
April 2, 2003... There is a key difference in the way consumers choose a store versus starting a financial relationship, according to Neil Goldman, president of Member Research. Different stores have different value propositions a "formula" with three...

SEGs: 'Not A Department, A Philosophy'.
April 2, 2003... The SEG recruitment process can be a boon for a credit union, but it is also subject to breaking down. In remarks before The Journal's SEG & Business Development Conference, Neva Buckhanon, VP-arketing and development at USA FCU, helped...

Will War Be Good For The Markets?
April 3, 2003... For an angst-ridden America, no news is not good news. Political reasons for a U.S. invasion of Iraq aside, a brief war would probably boost the stock markets, paving the way for the promised economic rebound we've been anticipating for...

Wachovia-Pru Is On, USB-PJ Is Over: Two of the nation's biggest banks are heading resolutely in opposite directions regarding the brokerage business. Which way is the right way?
April 3, 2003... Within hours of each other on Feb. 19, Wachovia Bank announced that its long-running pursuit of Prudential Financial's brokerage had been completed, and Minneapolis-based U.S. Bancorp said it would spin off Piper Jaffray. Wachovia and...

People on the Move.
April 3, 2003... The Phoenix Cos amed Dona D. Young as chairman, succeeding Robert W. Fiondella, who is retiring. Phoenix, a major underwriter and asset manager, has recently made a big push to increase bank-channel distribution. Young was named CEO on...

LTCI Carriers Cool to Bank Channel: Employer-sponsored plans are key to reaching younger buyers. But hurry, since reverse mortgages are gaining popularity to fund nursing- home care.
April 3, 2003... More than 100 underwriters sell long-term- care insurance, but the top dozen carriers dominate the market. Among them, only a few are active players in the bank channel: GE Capital, John Hancock and CNA. Two big carriers, Massachusetts...

Odds & Ends.
April 3, 2003... Banc One and Bank of New York have chosen Transamerica Investment Management as part of the management for their separate-account programs. Bank One's subsidiary, Banc One Securities Corp., headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, recently...

The CUJ Daily.
April 3, 2003... CO-OP Network Offers New Solution ONTARIO, Calif.-The CO-OP Network said it has developed a solution for credit unions comply with the new requirement by MasterCard International that all ATMs meet Triple DES-data encryption standards-by...

Biz Development Straight Up-& With A Twist.
April 3, 2003... Credit union business development is like a martini-it can be delivered straight up or with a twist, according to Delynn Daniels, senior marketing manager for First South CU. The "straight up" portion, she said in remarks before The...

How One Credit Union Has Achieved High Penetration Of Its Employee Groups.
April 3, 2003... Increasing SEG penetration is all about developing relationships- first with the company, then with your contact at the company, and, eventually, with the employees who become your members. That was the message from Connie Capuano, vice...

Community Page.
April 3, 2003... CU ONE Rewards Scholarship FERNDALE, Mich.-Credit Union One awarded Stoney Creek High School senior Irena Ugorowski a $1,000 scholarship. NHCCU Donates Mittens To Needy DENVER-New Horizons Community Credit Union collected 250 pairs...

Northeast Online Aspirations: Big East Coast banks mull ShareBuilder for their smaller investors, while BISA chooses its new leadership roster. Hibernia to investors: Don't duck.
April 3, 2003... Several banks in the Northeast are in discussions with online trading company NetStock for the banks to offer the firm's ShareBuilder dollar- cost averaging service etStock already has partnerships with more than two dozen banks; its biggest...

In What May Be Last Testimony, Dollar Presses Congress To Extend Reg Relief.
April 4, 2003... In what is probably his final appearance before Congress as NCUA Chairman, Dennis Dollar called on lawmakers last week to expand the work he started at NCUA by cutting back more of the regulatory burden on credit unions. Dollar, whose...

For Military CUs, Empty Branches, Slow Lending, And Daily Review Of KIA Reports.
April 4, 2003... With many of their members thousands of miles away fighting a war, military credit unions are feeling the effects of war in a much different-and personal- way than many credit unions. One military credit union CEO noted he monitors killed...

Iowa Bill To Tax CUs Likely Dead; League Still Wary.
April 4, 2003... A bill that would apply a franchise tax on the state's largest credit unions appeared dead last week when Senate Republican leaders agreed to bury the tax proposal. Republican leaders, adverse to any new taxes, agreed during a party...

NCUA OKs Major Changes To Field Of Membership Rules.
April 4, 2003... In its first major changes to field of membership (FOM) rules since the landmark 1998 law, HR 1151, the NCUA board voted last week to ease FOM standards in several major ways. One of the most significant changes is the creation of a new...

ON DEADLINE.
April 4, 2003... Rates Continue To Slide WASHINGTON-Credit unions continued to slash their savings rates to all time lows this week, trimming another couple of basis points off their main savings products, according to data compiled by DataTrac Corp. ...

Fidelity Creates Reward Card: Families can direct up to 2% back into a 529 account ew products are seen from FAME, ING, Brinker, Manulife and American Express Financial Group.
April 4, 2003... * Fidelity and MBNA launched a new college-savings reward credit card that allows families to earn 2% back on all eligible purchases, which can be directed into a Fidelity-managed 529 plan account. With no limit on the rewards dollars...

Product Profile: Selling Complex Products.
April 4, 2003... Many bank-based brokerages and insurance operations still make their living with relatively simple packaged products. And with the recent growth of platform-based Series 6 programs, the roles of the core mutual fund and the fixed annuity...

What Proposed Savings Accounts Mean.
April 4, 2003... Lifetime Savings Accounts (LSAs), Retirement Savings Accounts (RSAs) and Employer Retirement Saving Accounts (ERSAs) could dramatically change reps' lives, making them more like advisers and less like administrators. But can the proposals...

Ross J. Price, Macatawa Bank: Price had always wanted to be a broker ow that he has found a start-up program in western Michigan, his production is set to go sky high.
April 4, 2003... Macatawa Bank in Zeeland, Mich., has only been around since 1997, and the brokerage program is even newer. It got its approvals from the National Association of Securities Dealers in June 2002 and opened for business the next month. The...

Banks Central to Restoring Trust: Bank reps can do well by doing good. In helping to restore trust in markets, they can position themselves as the central source of guidance.
April 4, 2003... Investors remain gun-shy, and are staying away from the market in droves. A study competed late last year by PriceWaterhouseCoopers indicates that reticence comes from a crisis of confidence in markets, and says specifically that financial...

Despite Support, Federal Privacy Legislation Lags On Agenda.
April 7, 2003... National preemption of state financial privacy laws-which the financial services industry badly wants-may not be in the policymaking cards this year. Treasury officials and lawmakers have began putting their political capital behind...

Study: CU Branch Growth To Continue.
April 7, 2003... Credit union branches are the top source of loan originations today, responsible for half of all new loans, And the branch remains the most popular place for members to do business, according to new research. Callahan & Associates said a...

Journal Sponsoring Technology Survey.
April 7, 2003... The Credit Union Journal, in conjunction with Campbell Communications, Inc., is in the midst of conducting a credit union communitywide survey on attitudes of executives regarding selection of vendors in several areas of technology. The...

Worth Noting.
April 7, 2003... 'Jump$tart Washington' Formed SEATTLE-Credit unions have joined with banks and community groups here to form "Jump$tart Washington" to improve financial literacy. Gov. Gary Locke has also proclaimed April as Financial Literacy month in...

Hope Springs Eternal-Even In This Old Match-Up.
April 7, 2003... We could hear the cracks of the bats before we even hit the ticket booth. It was a postcard of a day in South Florida- sun high, sky azure, temp perfect, New Yorkers jostling us (I would soon learn it wasn't the crack of the bat I had heard...

8 Simple Rules for Creating a Profitable SMA Program.
April 7, 2003... As the newest "it product," the separately managed account is rapidly becoming an indispensable investment tool in banks' wealth management toolboxes. And with assets projected to grow annually at 23%, SMAs are poised to become the hottest...

Let the Sunshine In: To help Quick & Reilly transform from a discount shop to a full- service brokerage, FleetBoston hired Jane-Marie Baker from Schwab to lead one of Q&R's fastest-growing regions, Florida and New Orleans. Let the games begin.
April 7, 2003... FleetBoston Financial wants its Quick & Reilly brokerage subsidiary to be the new Charles Schwab and the new Merrill Lynch-not the old Schwab or the next Merrill-but to beat the wirehouses and supermarkets to the punch. The bank believes...

Options Expertise Isn't an Option: Even though the stock market is in its third year of a downturn, stock options remain a hot accessory for the executive who has everything. Don't risk losing your executive-level clients.
April 7, 2003... In developing banks' ever-more complicated corporate relationships, having no in-house specialist to handle the intricacies of employee stock options is simply, well, not an option-especially for those that use this niche as an entree to...

Cleaning Up With a QTIP Trust: Want to make sure your second husband is provided for during his lifetime but that he won't leave your remaining assets to his own children instead of yours from your first marriage? Oy vey.
April 7, 2003... Estate planning can be especially messy when several families are blended into one, but a client's estate troubles can be cleaned up with a QTIP trust. When one or both spouses have children from previous marriages, conflicts can often...

Beyond Cross-Selling: No new distribution channels are likely to emerge, but several vendors are attempting innovative approaches that can help bank brokers keep their prospect pipeline from draining to dry.
April 7, 2003... Distribution managers for both banks and service companies agree that the low-hanging fruit has all been picked, but there are still pools of untapped potential for bank-based brokers and insurance agents one are as obvious or as easy to reach...

CU Employees Being Asked To Pay More Health Care Costs.
April 8, 2003... Credit union employees and their families are shelling out more money for health benefits than ever before, according to a new survey by D. Hilton Associates Inc. The findings that credit unions are asking their employees to share more...

New 'Director of Innovation' Seeks To Be A Link.
April 8, 2003... After a two-month nationwide search, Mark Meyer has been chosen as Filene Research Institute's new director of innovation programs, a newly created position to help "notch things up a bit" in testing products and service ideas generated...

Product & Service.
April 8, 2003... State Nat'l Cos. Buys Angel & Lee FORT WORTH, Texas-State National Companies, a provider of collateral protection insurance (CPI), has acquired the book of CPI from Angel & Lee, an Alabama-based insurance provider. Angel & Lee will retain...

Wonder, Blunder Thunder, Plunder: The Emerging SEG Opportunity: Many Business Owners Don't Just Want To Know What The Credit Union Can Do For Employees--They Want To Know What It Can Do For Them.
April 8, 2003... Perhaps the biggest change in demands upon credit unions by business owners no longer has to do with what the CU can do for the employees, but what the CU can do for the small-and medium-sized business. Michael Hales, senior executive vice...

One CU's Experience In Adding 'Underserved' FOM.
April 8, 2003... For most of its life, Communicators FCU in Houston, Texas, was a telecommunications credit union, before expanding to take in portions of the medical community. But it was a decision it made in 2001 that has altered the credit union's...

DANs, DANs, for Everyone: BofA and ABN Amro pioneered the retail business for these $1,000, adviser-sold bonds. The market has grown to $42 billion over the last four years, and it's only getting hotter.
April 8, 2003... Financial advisers sell most of their investments in competition with many other vendors, and often in direct competition with their suppliers who sell directly to the public via Internet, mail or telephone. But in a rare cooperative...

Banks Beckon American Century: Long a competitor in direct sales and retirement plans, American Century has shifted 10 of its best funds to a new adviser-sold- only group. And therein lies opportunity. Lots of it.
April 8, 2003... Kansas City, Mo., was the point of departure for many ambitious expeditions, few more so than the foray by American Century Funds into adviser-sold distribution. About half of the top two dozen retail fund complexes in the U.S. have a...

Processing Enters Technology Age: Annuity transactions are still living in the last century, where no one's ever heard the phrase "paperless office." All that's set to change now, though, as AnnuityNet, Streampoint and InfoOne launch platform options.
April 8, 2003... Financial firms have been more successful in automating their information- intensive business processes than perhaps any other industry. That is, except for fixed- and variable-annuity transactions, which still burden bank advisers and...

The Rush Toward DCCs and DSAs: Credit insurance is the most common insurance offered by banks, but that fact will soon be history. More banks are beginning to offer the potentially more lucrative DCCs and DSAs, regulated as "banking products.".
April 8, 2003... Although most banks sell at least one of the four types of credit insurance, dwindling profit margins and regulatory headaches are prompting more banks to offer debt-cancellation contracts instead. And add the federal government's...

Clearing the Way: Outsourcing your clearing and execution needs may be the best idea.
April 8, 2003... Every April, as the tax deadline looms over us, investors tend to think more about their portfolios and investment vehicles in general. If your clients are asking about alternatives to reach their financial goals, you need to be confident...

Spending $1.25 To Capture $1? Consultant Urges CUs Reexamine Approaches.
April 9, 2003... "You should have a P&L on every one of your members." -Joe Prunty If nothing else, recommends Joe Prunty, president of CoreProfit Solutions, credit unions should learn the principles of behavior-based profitability. It's...

The CUJ Daily.
April 9, 2003... ASI Boosts Asset Cushion DUBLIN, Ohio-American Share Insurance said last year's conversion of Patelco Credit Union from NCUSIF, helped swell its assets by 28% last year to a new high of $182.3 million. But the credit union insurer, under...

Tax Debate Puts CUs In Difficult Straits.
April 9, 2003... I guess it can be safely said that the credit union movement has never met a tax that it likes. Whatever it's called: an income tax, franchise tax, excise tax or unrelated business income tax; we're against them all. At least as it...

Dems Lay Filibuster Trap For Bankruptcy Bill.
April 9, 2003... Once again, the bankruptcy reform bill slid right through the House on its first try in an impressive bipartisan vote, 315-to-113. And once again, the Senate is expected to pass the credit union-backed bill by a similar bipartisan margin....

People.
April 9, 2003... The Hilco Organization, Northbrook, Ill., named Fred C. Caruso president of Hilco Industrial. Oregon Metro Federal Credit Union, Eugene, Ore., awarded Lindsey Hamar rookie all-star, Misty Schmidt staff all- star, Dena Keeler, leadership...

Florida League Backing Anti-Predator Effort.
April 9, 2003... The Florida CU League has joined with a coalition of groups in the state backing a statewide campaign aimed at educating people about predatory lenders. Also involved are Florida's CFO, Tom Gallagher, various consumer groups, and other...

Home Equity Surged 40% At Banks During '02.
April 9, 2003... Home equity lines surged 39% at FDIC-insured institutions during 2002, growing to $256.4 billion on bank balance sheets at year-end. That figure is more than double the $121.3 billion in home equity lines outstanding at year-end 1999. The...

Governor Joins Navy FCU At Groundbreaking.
April 9, 2003... Florida Gov. Jeb Bush joined nearly 150 Escambia County, Fla. leaders to break ground on the Navy FCU's new member service center, the credit union's first expansion project outside of its Virginia-based headquarters. The "remote in-bound"...

WOCCU Wins AID Support For Mexico Project.
April 9, 2003... The World Council of Credit Unions, Inc. (WOCCU) has acquired a 36- month,World Bank-financed project from the government of Mexico to extend savings mobilization technology to 16 new and eight existing Rural Financial Institutions (RFIs) in...

Community Page.
April 9, 2003... AHFCU Opens Main Office Branch American Heritage FCU opened a 20,000 square-foot main office branch in Northeast Philadelphia. ABCU Dresses Down For Charity LANSING, Mich.-Auto Body Credit Union employees participated in a weekly...

What Some Credit Unions Are Doing.
April 10, 2003... Among some of the support efforts by military and non-military CUs includes: * Mon-Oc FCU, Toms River, N.J., is offering a free financial planning session with a financial counselor who has "considerable experience working with members...

FOM Update: CU Adds Big Low-Income Group.
April 10, 2003... TRW Systems FCU, which serves more than 1,000 SEGs, was granted one of the largest underserved FOMs by NCUA. The $550-million credit union obtained approval in January for four large tracts of low-income residents in California and in...

Community Page.
April 10, 2003... AACFCU Is Honored By Battalion DALEVILLE, Ala.-Army Aviation Center Federal Credit Union was honored for its outstanding support of the Battalion's Family Readiness Group, which provides assistance to soldiers and their families. In...

SEC Likely To Play Growing Role In Evolution Of CUSOs.
April 10, 2003... The Credit Union Service Organization (CUSO) continues to evolve-But what form will that evolution take during the first decade of the new century? The answer may be decided by the SEC. During CUNA's Governmental Affairs Conference...

ON DEADLINE.
April 10, 2003... Number Of Mergers Slows ALEXANDRIA, Va.-Merger activity slumped to a five month low in January with NCUA approving just 18 mergers. Fifteen of those will eliminate a small CU of $5 million or less. The biggest mergers approved in January...

Members Take To The Airwaves In Iowa.
April 10, 2003... The Iowa league has produced a half-dozen radio spots in which members of credit unions provide testimonials and criticize the proposed new tax upon the state's credit unions. Below are two of the spots. MEMBER: Last year, big banks brought...

CUNA Chair Jolette Urges CUs To Watch State Battles.
April 10, 2003... CUNA Chairman Barry Jolette exhorted credit unions to make the most of their time in the nation's capitol to ensure that the banker rhetoric against the CU tax exemption is quashed, though it is clear that the real fight right now is at the...

Good News: You're On Top Bad News: You're The Target.
April 10, 2003... While credit unions have worked to become a political force to be reckoned with, political analyst Charlie Cook suggested that the toughest thing about getting to the top of anything is staying there, adding "I'm sure the bankers would love...

SBA Administrator Calls On CUs For More Small Loans.
April 10, 2003... Now that all credit unions can apply for guaranteed loans through the Small Business Administration's program, they are in a position to help the SBA reach its goal of making more "truly small loans" to entrepreneurs, something that will help...

Size Of Crowd Indicates CU Interest In Payday Lending.
April 10, 2003... Is payday lending just a necessary evil? It is necessary, agreed members of a panel discussion during GAC-and it doesn't have to be evil, stressed two credit union representatives. On hand for the session was the CEO of the largest payday...

Identity Theft: Skeletons in the Credit Closet: A growing number of cash-strapped parents are stealing their kid's identity. The debt is piling up.
April 11, 2003... Lisa Barraza's seven-year-old son is a typical youngster-minus one major detail. Since the age of one, he's racked up over $100,000 in credit card debt. How can a grade-schooler apply for credit cards and spend that kind of cash? ...

Hedge Funds: SEC Eyes Conflicts of Interest in the Business: Ongoing probe sparks regulation buzz.
April 11, 2003... THe SECurities and Ex- change Commission may finally be taking steps to regulate the hedge fund industry. Over the past several months, the SEC has been quietly putting together an extensive database of hedge fund information, according to...

Allard Reiterates Opposition To Any Credit Union Tax.
April 11, 2003... Sen. Wayne Allard (R-CO) joined a number of other lawmakers to pledge support for the credit union tax exemption during his speech before CUNA's Governmental Affairs Conference. "Some call for the taxation of credit unions. It became an...

Pershing LLC.
April 11, 2003... Powerful tools are required in these changing times in order keep pace with competition. That is why Pershing will offer a collection of new technology products in 2003 to help you effectively manage your business and keep you in front of the...