Banking Wire articles from August 2005

Banking Wire archives from August 2005

Costs Reduced As Illinois CUs, Banks Join In Online Fraud Alert Network.
August 1, 2005... NAPERVILLE, Ill. -- Fraud protection just got cheaper for Illinois credit unions under renegotiated terms between the Illinois Credit Union League and the Illinois Bankers Association. After a year-long partnership between the two financial...

TIP Charters Expand At The State Level, Too.
August 1, 2005... HARTFORD, Conn. -- The so-called TIP charter pioneered by NCUA two years ago and allowing a credit union to maintain a semblance of common bond by continuing to serve an entire trade, industry or profession, has been moving into the states,...

Convicted 'Big Chief' To Stay In The Big House.
August 1, 2005... WASHINGTON -- A federal judge ruled that Bernard Gurr, the self-proclaimed "Misikea Fa Alaveleve," or "American Samoan Big Chief," who headed American Samoa Government Employees Federal Credit Union, must serve out the remaining year or so on...

NCUA Says College Plans Are Tax Deductible.
August 1, 2005... ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- NCUA said tax-deductible college tuition savings plans, such as the offered under Section 529 of the IRS Code, are eligible for federal deposit insurance under the NCUSIF, as long as they are structured properly. "Our...

Masterminds Convicted In Heists.
August 1, 2005... TEMPE, Ariz. -- Two California men were found guilty last month of engineering two interstate armed robberies at local credit unions in 2002 that netted almost $300,000. Jonathan Hunter and Derrick McCreary, masterminded the two heists...

CU TIPs Hat To Protection Industry.
August 1, 2005... PLAINVIEW, N.Y. -- NCPD FCU, a $300- million credit union chartered to serve the Nassau County Police Department, was granted a TIP charter to serve all federal, state, county and municipal employees in the police protection industry in...

CU Sends Teen To 'American Idol'.
August 1, 2005... JACKSON, Mich. -- Eighteen-year-old Lauren Lynn is on her way to the "American Idol" auditions, thanks to American 1 FCU. The high school senior won first place in the second annual American 1 Teen Idol competition at the Riverwalk...

High-Speed Getaway Up In Smoke.
August 1, 2005... SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- A credit union robber was dragged out of the smoking wreckage of his getaway car amid flying greenbacks he had stolen a short while before from Grand Heritage FCU, after a high-speed chase that ended when the thief slammed...

TIP Spreading Through The States.
August 1, 2005... HARRISBURG, Pa. -- State regulators said Pennsylvania has become the latest of the states to entertain requests for a TIP charter, allowing credit unions to serve entire trades, industries or professions. The Pennsylvania Department of...

For CEO of One Small Credit Union, Legislative Advocacy Not An...
August 1, 2005... WAUWATOSA, Wis. -- Dean Wilson has a poem taped to his computer that he reads every day to remind himself that there is still work to be done to protect and preserve the credit union movement. Written by German activist Martin Niemollar,...

Volunteers Want More Representation On Trade Boards.
August 2, 2005... LAS VEGAS -- An issue that's been simmering for years is finally coming to a boil following NAFCU's annual business meeting, where CU directors criticized the lack of volunteers in leadership positions in the movement's trade associations. ...

Branching Out... ...Branching In.
August 2, 2005... WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Credit unions want to branch out, but the soaring cost of land is forcing them to turn inward, so to speak, for new opportunities. But these alternatives don't allow for external differentiation and require more...

Conversions Could Bog Down CURIA.
August 2, 2005... WASHINGTON -- The powerful thrift lobby is working to create mischief for credit unions by trying to convince Congress to add a provision to the impending regulatory relief bill that would restrict NCUA's powers over credit union conversions...

High-Profile Security Breaches Prompt CU Response.
August 2, 2005... PLEASANTON, Calif. -- Ongoing news reports of ever-larger data security breaches, from lost bank back-up file tapes to card processors losing data on tens of millions of customers to phishing attacks against credit unions, has raised the...

On Deadline.
August 2, 2005... Supreme Court Nominee Was CU Advocate WASHINGTON-John Roberts, the appeals court judge nominated Wednesday to the Supreme Court by President Bush will forever hold a place in credit union history as one of the chief defenders of NCUA's...

Bid Would Raise FOM Bar In Va.
August 2, 2005... RICHMOND, Va. -- State regulators said Newport News Shipbuilding Employees' CU has applied for the largest community charter in the state. The request would allow the $900-million Newport News-based credit union to serve more than 1.6...

CU Funds Auto Loans Same Day.
August 2, 2005... SAN ANTONIO, Texas -- San Antonio FCU, which runs the biggest indirect car loan program for credit unions, said it is implementing a system that will allow dealers to transmit loan applications to the credit union and receive their funding...

Ruling To Boost Campaign Funding.
August 2, 2005... WASHINGTON -- The Federal Election Commission has given the go-ahead to political action committees to use automatic payroll deduction to help finance campaign activities, giving a potential boost to both CUNA and its rival banking groups....

Belco Gets Big Community Charter.
August 2, 2005... HARRISBURG, Pa. -- State regulators have approved a request from Belco Community CU to convert to a community charter covering more than two million people in seven surrounding counties, one of the largest community fields of membership ever...

Son Bilks Elderly Mother Of Savings.
August 2, 2005... FAIRFIELD, Calif. -- A Vacaville man was charged with drugging his elderly mother and taking her to her credit union where she was induced to sign her name to cashiers' checks representing her life savings of more than $100,000 in April and...

Woman Robber Is No Lady.
August 3, 2005... PHOENIX -- Area police were searching for a female suspect they believe is responsible for at least three area bank robberies in the last month, including two at local credit unions. The woman, identified from a surveillance photo taken...

Airline Baggage Handler Convicted In Card Scheme.
August 3, 2005... ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- A baggage handler for United Airlines at Dulles International Airport pleaded guilty last week to stealing bulk quantities of credit card mailings from mail routed through the airport, then passing on the cards to...

NCUF Sets New Record For Disbursements To States.
August 3, 2005... MADISON, Wis. -- The National Credit Union Foundation has disbursed $482,494 in grants to state credit union foundations and leagues, up from first quarter 2005 of $435,662. The distribution this quarter brings the total amount granted to...

Worth Noting.
August 3, 2005... Walls To Head New Jersey CUL Hightstown, N.J.-Robert S. Walls, Sr., was appointed CEO of the New Jersey Credit Union League. Walls was formerly the president of the Delaware Credit Union League, chairman of the Credit Union House...

'Generation Debt' Hurts More Than Just The Students.
August 3, 2005... Editor's Note: This op-ed piece from NCUA Board Member Debbie Matz was published in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. While your kids are at college, do you know how their debt is growing? From the time they arrive on campus until graduation,...

CUs Touted As Payday Loan Models In New Report.
August 3, 2005... BALTIMORE -- ASI Federal Credit Union began offering its members payday loans because credit union officials were convinced members were being exploited by high costs and fees being charged at other area services. But the program does not...

Product & Service.
August 3, 2005... Bluepoint, CUTEK In Deal VISTA, Calif.-Bluepoint Solutions, a provider of document management solutions for credit unions, and CUTEK, a provider of technology integration services, have entered into a long-term alliance. The purpose of the...

Reader Question #1.
August 3, 2005... We are looking to expand beyond the typical "bankers' hours," and we are wondering what, if any, changes may be needed at our existing branches as well as how this new strategy should be taken into account in terms of location, security, design...

Reader Question #2.
August 3, 2005... What are some things we can do when we are building new branches to make them easier to sell-or that will enhance their resale value-if we should decide to close a particular location in the future? Ralph La Macchia, La Macchia Group ...

Branching Out... ...Branching In: The High Price Of Land Is Driving CUs To Look At Options To Traditional, Free Standing Branches.
August 3, 2005... ST. LOUIS, Mo. -- Skyrocketing land values and the hot real estate market are driving credit union branching strategies toward more lease deals, store fronts and other alternatives to getting into tough new markets, according to facilities...

Putting Clients First.
August 4, 2005... It seems many bank investment consultants are in a quandary. On the one hand, to be visible, let alone successful, they must think of ways to leverage the strength of their bank's brand and customer-distribution capabilities to let people know...

Lifecycle Funds Gain in Banks, May Sideline Advisers.
August 4, 2005... Skeptical investors and unpredictable market conditions have made lifecycle funds a popular investment option that is gaining assets rapidly while other mutual funds remain flat. Analysts and executives say the popularity of these...

SMAs May Hold Key to Small-Bank Trust.
August 4, 2005... While small and midsize banks been successfully building their investment businesses over the last decade, their own trust departments have gotten short shrift in customers' consciousness. "It's absolutely a source of frustration for us....

Bank Reps: Where Have all the Wholesalers Gone?
August 4, 2005... Financial advisers feeling neglected by their wholesalers over the last year are not alone. Although mutual fund and annuity companies are spending more on their marketing efforts, strategic changes in the industry mean that financial advisers...

Hartford Goes after Ultra-Wealthy Customers.
August 4, 2005... Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. says it plans to expand distribution and sales by going after the ultra-wealthy. John Vaccaro, chief marketing officer of the Hartford Life unit, says that the company is starting a private wealth...

Risk-Based Capital Is Omitted From New Reg Relief Bill.
August 4, 2005... WASHINGTON -- The House Financial Services Committee finally introduced its latest version of a regulatory relief bill for banks and credit unions-but conspiciously left out an NCUA-backed proposal to enact risk-based capital system for...

In The Blink Of An Eye: While Large Banks Have Announced Plans To Launch 'Blink' Credit Cards, Credit Unions Are Taking A Wait-And-See Approach.
August 4, 2005... DALLAS -- Credit unions may be taking a wait-and-see approach to contactless cards, but in the blink of an eye-literally-they're going to see some of their biggest competitors offering them in droves, according to some credit card experts....

MBL Mutual Fund Debuts For CUs.
August 4, 2005... MADISON, Wis. -- CUNA Mutual Group plans to introduce a new mutual fund comprised of member business loans to credit unions over the next few weeks. CUNA Mutual sees the CU Systems Fund, which will be made up of MBLs originated by credit...

WOCCU Recognizes Roman Contribution To CU Movement.
August 4, 2005... ROME, Italy -- For credit unions, all roads led to Rome last week as more than 1,000 credit union representatives gathered here for a World Council event. During the meeting eight WOCCU representatives traveled to the Vatican, which...

On Deadline.
August 4, 2005... NCUA Queries Vote In OmniAmerican Conversion ALEXANDRIA, Va.-NCUA has introduced a new wrinkle into the flap over the conversion of Fort Worth, Texas-based OmniAmerican: voter eligibility. The regulator wants to know why only 99,000 of...

NCUA Questions Voting Eligibility In Conversion.
August 5, 2005... ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- Against all odds, OmniAmerican CU submitted its bid to NCUA last week to convert to a mutual savings bank, asking the federal regulator to certify the controversial member ballot, despite the agency's vow not to approve...

Wisconsin's Moore Withdraws Co-Sponsorship of CURIA.
August 5, 2005... PEWAUKEE, Wis. -- U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI) said concerns that some "enormous credit unions are acting more and more like traditional banks'' prompted her recent withdrawal as a co-sponsor of the Credit Union Regulatory Improvement Act...

Worth Noting.
August 5, 2005... Industry Honors Retiring Chatfield ROME, Italy-To mark the pending retirement of CEO and long-time credit union veteran Dave Chatfield, the Calfornia/Nevada CU League has announced the formation of the David L. Chatfield International...

Handouts, Hands Up, And A Hand To A Man In A River.
August 5, 2005... A few weeks ago I received a prospectus/information pack/mini- telephone book from a mutual fund in which I have some money. I'd be clearer about what exactly the document was, but I didn't take the time to read it. It was bulky and packed...

Robber Uses Live Explosive To Hold Up Colo. CU.
August 5, 2005... COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- This time the bomb was real. It was just another Friday morning until a man wearing a backpack walked into the Fitters Local 58 Federal Credit Union. The man took a device out of the backpack and placed it on the...

In The Know.
August 5, 2005... Aviva Life Insurance Co. has launched the Saver's Reward flexible- premium deferred annuity for distribution through the bank channel. It features a first-year interest rate bonus, a jumbo annuity value bonus, new money interest rate...

Tools and Resources.
August 5, 2005... John Hancock has introduced a business succession planning sales tool kit for advisers. It covers several aspects of succession planning, from simple key-person insurance plans to more complex buy-sell arrangements. The kit offers sales...

A Big Fish in a Little Pond: Smith Barney rep Megan Gutierrez makes a splash in a community bank.
August 5, 2005... Megan Gutierrez, a Smith Barney rep at Los Alamos National Bank in Los Alamos, N.M., walks a tightrope between her bank and the expectations of her dual employer, a wirehouse purely dedicated to selling investment products. But while she works...

Insurance Programs That Work: After inevitable teething troubles, banks find insurance products a good fit with investments.
August 5, 2005... For many banks, selling insurance through their financial consultants and platform reps is the Holy Grail. Successfully meshing banking and insurance sales has been just beyond their grasp even though they are seemingly in an ideal position to...

E Pluribus Unum: How First National's Investment One is unifying investment sales at 14 different banks.
August 5, 2005... If managing an investment program at one bank can be a headache, try 14. That's what executives at First National's investment division are facing as they expand the bank holding company's investment offerings through its branch network. ...

Cash Injection: Health savings accounts could be a boon for banks' assets under management.
August 8, 2005... Thanks to the establishment of Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), hundreds of billions of dollars that are now ploughed into insurance premiums are up for grabs as deposits and investable assets-and banks could be a prime beneficiary. "You can...

The Write Stuff: How to direct-market investments and insurance to wealthy clients.
August 8, 2005... Healthy people are different. So when banks attempt to use direct mail to reach them with a sales message for investments or insurance products, there are 10 critical areas that need to be considered. The mailing list. Too many...

Performance Metrics: Decision Engines Tools Get A Tune-up: JPMorgan Chase tries business rules management.
August 8, 2005... Business-rules engines that guide automatic decisioning in banking software have long proven their advantage, with labor cost savings and better time-to-market outcomes evident for almost two decades.Those rules only maintain their benefit,...

Contactless Payments: No-Touch Cards Are In Touch on Security: Issuers and vendors insist transactions are safe.
August 8, 2005... With JPMorgan Chase and MasterCard set to place contactless credit cards in the hands of millions of consumers by year's end, the national rollout of the technology is well under way. And while the technology consists of openly transmitting...

Panel Has Advice On Insurance Sales.
August 8, 2005... ORLANDO, Fla. -- If credit unions are considering offering personal and commercial insurance to their members, the biggest challenge is researching and finding the most effective and efficient mode of delivery, a panel of insurance experts...

Regulators' Misplaced Focus: 1 View On What's Hurting Profitability.
August 8, 2005... ORLANDO, Fla. -- Credit union bottom lines are underperforming-and in many cases operating in the red-because regulators continue to misunderstand when earnings are at risk. That's the argument being made by Peter Duffy, VP with New...

The Ups & The Downs: Effects of Rate Moves Depend On The CU.
August 8, 2005... ARLINGTON, Va. -- Where's the risk: when interest rates rise, or when interest rates fall? The fact is, both environments carry their share of risk for credit unions, according to two experts. "Traditionally, most people think that when...

CUNA Initiative Aims To Boost Performance As Rates Rise.
August 8, 2005... MADISON, Wis. -- CUNA said it has rolled out a new educational initiative designed to help credit unions succeed in a rising rate environment by coordinating national and state training, research, and publishing resources on strategies that...

Rants and Raves: HSAs: Service, Not Product.
August 8, 2005... I read the article in your June 2005 issue concerning health-savings accounts with great interest ("For the Enterprising, Health-Savings Funds Are Anything But Medicine"). Blackhawk is a small, regional bank with assets totaling approximately...

With the Whistleblower Provision, No One Wins: The SOX provision provides protection to a whistleblower who has been discharged, demoted, suspended, threatened, harassed or discriminated against by his employer. What it doesn't give him is another life.
August 8, 2005... Establishing the intent of regulation is one thing; applying that regulation to rectify a specific situation is another story. No one knows this better than David E. Welch, former CFO of Virginia's Bank of Floyd, who is the first person...

Study Confirms How Banks, CUs Differ In Changing Their Pricing.
August 9, 2005... MADISON, Wis. -- Research has confirmed what many might have suspected, which is that credit unions and banks differ in their response to changes affecting the price of their products and services. In the new research from the Filene...

Alliant CU Boosts Dividend To 3.25%.
August 9, 2005... CHICAGO -- For the second straight quarter, Alliant Credit Union has boosted its quarterly savings dividend rate, this time to 3.25%-with a compounded APY of 3.29%. The dividend is paid to members with savings of $100 or more. Alliant...

Risky Business (Lending): Lessons In Understanding The Challenges & Opportunties.
August 9, 2005... ORLANDO, Fla. -- Credit unions have recognized the fertile opportunities presented by member business loans. But many don't understand the distinctions and complexities such lending presents compared to traditional consumer lending, two...

Right Idea, Wrong Incentives: Why Well-Intended Programs Can Generate Poor Results.
August 9, 2005... ORLANDO, Fla. -- There are many ways to reward credit union staff for sales leads and opportunities. But choosing the wrong incentive strategy, credit unions risk losing sales, suffering morale problems and even creating staff turnover,...

Convenient For Members And Scammers: The Risks Involved In New Payments Methods.
August 9, 2005... ORLANDO, Fla. -- Emerging plastic card programs such as prepaid gift cards, payroll cards or "contactless wave cards" are becoming increasingly popular with consumers-and with scammers. Three experts-Ann Davidson, CUNA Mutual Group...

Mastering Fixed-Income Investing: IMCA lays out the fundamentals of the how bonds work, the yield curve and the theories behind it.
August 9, 2005... Bonds, also known as fixed-income securities, represent a promise to repay a certain amount of money at a specified time in the future. Bonds are issued by the U.S. government, various governmental agencies, municipalities, corporations, and...

Theories on the Term Structure of Interest Rates.
August 9, 2005... * Expectations Theory holds that forward rates equal the expected future interest rate for the relevant period. * Liquidity Preference Theory implies that greater forward rates attract investors to longer-term obligations and thus affect...

Security Breaches: Banks Flounder in Muddy Data-Regulation Waters: Is new interagency guidance that clear?
August 9, 2005... Institutions of all sizes are struggling to map out the boundaries of regulators' new customer-notification guidelines on data breaches. The provision on consumer harm, for instance, only requires notice if actual misuse of sensitive personal...

M&A Activity: European Deals Press Onward: Rejections of constitution may disrupt activity.
August 9, 2005... It is summertime and cross-border mergers are heating up the European landscape, despite the recent rejection of the European Union constitution by two nations, which may threaten integration and reform of the financial sector in the short...

Hits and Has-Beens.
August 9, 2005... Synovus has named Richard E. Anthony CEO and president. Former CEO James H. Blanchard, who becomes board chairman, retires in 2006. Washington Mutual has hired David C. Schneider as president of its Home Loans Division. He had been...

FreshInk.
August 10, 2005... 1. In a bombshell announcement, Bank of America said it will buy credit card issuer MBNA for $35 billion in cash and stock. The bank, already one of the "big three," will become one of the largest issuer of credit cards, with 40 million...

Pipeline: Cost of SOX Compliance Continues to Escalate.
August 10, 2005... Total compliance costs for Sarbanes-Oxley averaged $116,800 annually for banks with less than $15 billion in assets, compared to $937,500 for those with more than $15 billion in assets, according to the Risk Management Association. The vast...

As Purcell Leaves Building, MS Gets Big Mack Attack.
August 10, 2005... Talk about sweet, sweet redemption. Former Morgan Stanley president John J. Mack-and former CEO of the firm in its pre-merger days-was warmly invited to take the helm of the investment bank as chairman and chief executive late last month, four...

Selling Treasuries in a Dutch Auction.
August 10, 2005... U.S. Treasury bills and notes are sold competitively in a Dutch auction. This means that the first bids to be accepted are those offering to accept the lowest interest rate (meaning they offer to pay the highest prices) and the auction...

Tales from the Trails: How Oregon's financial advisers are diversifying their product offerings to meet client demand.
August 10, 2005... What's doing in the Beaver state? Oregon reps David Beck, a Primevest investment rep at West Coast Bank in Portland; Charlene Carter, president, Carter & Carter Financial, a wholly owned subsidiary of Siuslaw Financial Group in Florence; and...

Managing Internet Risks: What Should Be At The 'Top of The Priority List'.
August 10, 2005... VANCOUVER, B.C. -- Technological advancements will continue to change the way credit unions do business on into the future, but one expert says future credibility depends on addressing security concerns today. Steve Williams, principal of...

The Great Risk Of Not Knowing: Not Having Good Data On Member Profitability Is Costly, Says 1 Analyst, Who Suggested That 60% Of Cross-Sales Are Not Profitable.
August 10, 2005... ORLANDO -- It's no secret to any credit union that profitability is squeezed. But where the biggest risk lies for credit unions, according to one person, is in not knowing which member behaviors are contributing to profitability, and which are...

We Need To Talk (To The Member): Technology Generates Savings, But It Also Poses A Risk, Says Panel, Citing Missed Opportunities.
August 10, 2005... ORLANDO, Fla. -- Technology may be driving much of the decision making in lending but it would serve credit unions well if lenders got back to an old- fashioned strategy: a conversation with the member. "Many lenders are becoming...

Ignorance Risk: Why CEOs Must Know More Than Just Their Own Products.
August 10, 2005... ORLANDO, Fla. -- The average credit union CEO understands his or her own product line. But what about that of competitors? "Whether it's Exchange Traded Funds, Index Annuities, Lifestyle Mutual Funds or Living Benefits in Variable...

Product & Service.
August 10, 2005... NSC Endorses Auto Financial Group ARLINGTON, Va.-NAFCU Services Corporation (NSC) has selected Auto Financial Group (AFG) as its "Preferred Partner" for auto balloon note financing for credit unions. The Preferred Partner title was...

Successful, Stuck & Stale: Your Credit Union's Doing Well-Why That May Be Just The Risk.
August 11, 2005... VANCOUVER, B.C. -- The business world searches endlessly for efficiency, but underestimates the importance of discovery. That was the message from Tony Eccles, professor and programme director at the London Business School. Eccles told...

News Briefs: Visa Rolling Out Hispanic Financial Education Campaign.
August 11, 2005... SAN FRANCISCO -- Visa USA announced that it is rolling out a Hispanic Financial Education Campaign. The new program is aimed at providing Hispanic consumers the tools they need to make sound financial decisions in their lives, the company...

Young Members 'Freezing' You Out? What 1 CU Has Done.
August 11, 2005... VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Why don't younger members join the credit union? It's unlikely they've heard about it from their parents, suggested one person. In fact, it's unlikely they've gotten much financial direction at all. Amy...

Product & Service.
August 11, 2005... Do-It-Yourself Awards Offered DOVER, N.H.-A new service from RewardsNOW is offering an online, "do-it-yourself rewards program that allows customers to redeem loyalty points to download music from a library of more than 800,000 songs. The...