Banking Wire articles from August 2006

Banking Wire archives from August 2006

Last Living Person On Hand For Opening Of First U.S. CU Dies In NH.
August 1, 2006... MANCHESTER, N.H. -- Gilberte Boivin Brosseau, the last living person to have been present at the 1908 opening of America's first credit union, St. Mary's Bank, passed away last week. The 101-year-old Brosseau, the daughter of the president...

Worth Noting.
August 1, 2006... DALLAS-Texas Corp. Leader Arnold Dies John Arnold, who built Southwest Corporate FCU into one of the nation's largest corporate credit unions, died from a heart attack while working at his farm in Louisiana. Arnold, 74, was the first...

Expansions, Retention, (Cloudy) Vision, & Push '1' Now.
August 1, 2006... By all rights, judging from some recent headlines, including in The Credit Union Journal, you should be reading this by flashlight, on the floor, perhaps under your desk. You're not alone. Apparently credit unions should be hunkered down inside...

Five Steps To Getting More From Your Repos.
August 1, 2006... Are you looking to get more from your repossession agency? Here are five steps on how to get them to do what you need-now. BE NICE. This may sound silly, but you know the Golden Rule! Nothing builds resentment quite like a rude ill-mannered...

Finding The Right Path To The Top Of Mission Mountain.
August 1, 2006... There's a fine line between believing passionately in our mission and drinking too much of our own Kool-Aid. True in all businesses everywhere, the nature of our credit union mission makes us more susceptible than most to finding ourselves on...

Loan Aimed At Getting Businesses To Relocate Does $1.2M During Year 1.
August 1, 2006... CHANDLER, ARIZ. -- First Credit Union made $1.2 million in member business loans in the first year of its program-and that was without any significant marketing push. Now celebrating the one-year anniversary of the special MBL program, the...

CUNA Presses FHFB To Include CU Reps On Boards.
August 1, 2006... WASHINGTON -- CUNA is pressing the Federal Housing Finance Board (FHFB) to ensure that the board of directors of each Federal Home Loan Bank includes a reasonable representation of credit unions. The trade group has sent a comment letter in...

Letters To The Editor.(Letter to the editor)(Company overview)
August 1, 2006... Article 'Squeezed' Many Myths Within CUs I had to take this opportunity to thank you for publishing Jim Jerving's article "The Big Margin SQUEEZE" that attacks and debunks some of the myths in credit union-land. The sentence, "a select few...

NAFCU Raises $60K For PAC During Conference.
August 1, 2006... ALEXANDRIA, VA. -- NAFCU replenished its campaign coffers during its annual convention in Toronto, just as the final days of fundraising for the 2005-2006 mid-term elections are approaching. The more than $60,000 raised during the three-day...

Bacino Moves Closer To Seat On Finance Board.
August 1, 2006... WASHINGTON -- The Senate Banking Committee is expected to vote as early as this week to endorse the appointment of former NCUA Board Member Geoffrey Bacino to the Federal Housing Finance Board, along with several other important Bush nominees,...

Wescom Goes Old School With Truck.
August 2, 2006... PASADENA, Calif. -- Wescom Credit Union is using a restored 1934 Ford stake bed pickup truck as its new marketing vehicle. The credit union was founded that same year as Telephone Employees Credit Union. In addition to the truck, it has...

Arnold Named Marketer of the Year.
August 2, 2006... ORLANDO, Fla. -- Mark Arnold, Senior VP with Neighborhood Credit Union in Dallas, was named Marketing Professional of the Year by the CUNA Marketing and Business Development Council. The award was presented during the group's annual meeting...

Low Down Payment Plan Is Added.
August 2, 2006... RALEIGH, N.C. -- The local branch here of Latino Community Credit Union (LCCU) has added a first mortgage program it says will make it easier for low-income borrowers to buy a home. "Our members generally hold lower-paying jobs that don't allow...

Tips, Advice On SEGs, Business Development Shared.
August 2, 2006... ORLANDO, Fla. -- SEGs still have legs. Working with select employee groups remains the primary focus of many executives within credit unions, and a panel discussion of individuals with those job responsibilities was part of the CUNA...

Card Services Division Now Credit Union Card Center.
August 2, 2006... INDIANAPOLIS -- The Card Services division of Servicecorp, the subsidiary of the Indiana league, has changed its name to Credit Union Card Center. Servicecorp COO Diana Arnold said the name change emphasizes that it offers services outside of...

Southeast CUREN Reaches Out To New Members.
August 2, 2006... MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- The Southeast Credit Union Real Estate Network Group is seeking new members in Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee among CUs and CUSOs, mortgage insurance companies, secondary market investors and technology companies working in...

Product & Service.
August 2, 2006... Floyd Unveils Exec Search Service BAYTOWN, Texas-John M. Floyd & Associates, Inc., which has primarily been known for its overdraft protection product, is introducing an executive search service. "In effect, we have assembled our top...

Wachovia Extends Branch Hours.
August 2, 2006... CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Wachovia Corp said it plans to expand hours at 38 of its more than 200 Atlanta-area locations starting in August, The American Banker said. The branches will open until 7 p.m. weekdays and until 4 p.m. on Saturdays, the...

PNC Hikes Rates to Get Funds.
August 2, 2006... PITTSBURGH -- PNC Financial Services Group Inc. is one of the front-runners in the deposit race and said that being focused on rates has enabled it to lock in long-term funds, The American Banker said. The strategy helped increase deposits...

Collection Cos. to Bid for IRS Jobs.
August 2, 2006... Reston, Va. -- As the Internal Revenue Service said that a decision to request contract bids to outsource tax collecting for the first time is "imminent", debt collectors are getting ready to place bids. Pioneer Credit Recovery Inc., a unit of...

Center For Community Self-Help Names President.
August 3, 2006... WASHINGTON -- The Center for Community Self-Help, the $2-billion parent of Self-Help CU, announced last week that Michael Calhoun has been promoted from general counsel to president of its wholly owned Center for Responsible Lending, its...

People.
August 3, 2006... HBE Corporation, St. Louis, named Joseph Huss chief financial officer. TNB Card Services, Dallas, named Dusty Bowers senior vice president and national sales manager. Aberdeen Proving Ground FCU, Md., promoted Bill Schultheis to...

Soldiers Get Heroes' Welcome.
August 3, 2006... ALEXANDRIA, VA. -- Pentagon FCU's non-profit foundation raised $300,000 during the second annual 'Night of Heroes Gala' to help support soldiers injured fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. Soldiers, credit union members and the community...

Banker To Lead CU Convert.
August 3, 2006... COLUMBUS, OHIO -- Insurance giant Nationwide Financial Services named Anne Arvia, president of leading community development bank ShoreBank, to be chief executive at its fledgling bank, being created out of Nationwide FCU. Arvia, 43, will...

Horse Thieves Rustled Off To Prison.
August 3, 2006... CORTEZ, Colo. -- A mom-and-daughter team who robbed Southwest Colorado FCU last year were rustled off to jail. Donja Vaughn and her 62-year-old mother, Sharon Vaughn, were sentenced to three years and 12 years in prison for stealing horses...

NAFCU Gets Aggressive.
August 3, 2006... TORONTO -- NAFCU announced a major shift in its political strategy last week and began attacking the bankers, following a similar shift by CUNA in recent months. NAFCU helped convince Rep. Bernard Sanders of Vermont to ask for a government...

NAFCU Net Income Up 23%.
August 3, 2006... TORONTO -- NAFCU reported it boosted its net income last year by 23% to a new high of $607,000. The increase in the bottom line was caused mainly by a 25% rise in education conference revenues to $2.45 million, and a 4% boost in membership dues...

Not Competitive On Deposits.
August 3, 2006... TORONTO -- Credit unions are losing their competitiveness in the deposit products as rising short-term rates keep pushing up the returns offered by the competition, several leading credit union economists warned during NAFCU's annual...

FOM Amendment Is Sought.
August 3, 2006... TORONTO -- NCUA Chairman JoAnn Johnson has been meeting this week with key lawmakers to discuss several agency initiatives, including a request to amend the Federal CU Act so that all credit unions will be able to add underserved communities to...

If The Hat Fits, Wear It.
August 3, 2006... TORONTO -- For the third year in a row, NAFCU awarded Members First FCU its "White Hat" award for raising the most funds for NAFCU's political action committee. But this year's award was for an off-the-charts performance as the Mechanicsburg,...

Alleged Taliban Member Found.
August 4, 2006... TORONTO -- The costly and time-consuming process of matching potential member names with potential terrorists under the USA PATRIOT Act paid off for Sunmark FCU. The Schenectady, N.Y., credit union normally runs the names of potential...

Navy Fed To Hire 920 People.
August 4, 2006... TORONTO -- Navy FCU is about to embark on one of the biggest hiring plans ever for a credit union. The $25-billion credit union plans to hire about 920 new employees in 2007, expanding its workforce by 18% to about 6,000 worldwide, according to...

Membership Growing, But...
August 4, 2006... TORONTO -- Credit unions are still adding members, but many of those members won't be around for the long-term, according to economists speaking at NAFCU's annual convention. Credit unions are expected to add as many as five-million members...

DOD Report Is Anticipated.
August 4, 2006... TORONTO -- The Department of Defense is expected to issue a report any day that is highly critical of payday lenders, pawnshops and other high-cost financial service providers preying on enlisted personnel, a well-placed Pentagon official said...

What Is 'Modest Means?' NCUA Searching For Answer.
August 4, 2006... TORONTO -- Even as NCUA is finishing up its pilot data collection on serving members of "modest means," members of the NCUA Board conceded they are still struggling with a definition of that term. NCUA Board member Gigi Hyland, a long-time...

New Orleans CUs Help Police.
August 4, 2006... NEW ORLEANS -- The Louisiana CU League presented New Orleans Police Chief Warren Riley with $11,000 to finance the purchase of 24 bulletproof vests. The protective vests will replace equipment lost or stolen during Hurricane Katrina. The...

Telesis Finances Out-Of-State Project.
August 4, 2006... CHATSWORTH, CALIF. -- Telesis Community CU has signed a deal to finance the $10.2-million purchase of a 24-story office building in downtown Little Rock, Ark. The California CU provided a five-year member business loan of $7.5 million to...

Federal Home Loan Bank Launches 30-Year Bonds.
August 4, 2006... WALL STREET -- The Federal Home Loan Bank system, one of the few acceptable issuers of CU investments, launched a new long-term offering last week, 30-year global bonds. The 5.50% bonds, due July 15, 2036, were priced at 98.656 to yield 5.593%,...

Product & Service.
August 4, 2006... Members No Longer On Island SAN DIMAS, CALIF.-Financial Service Centers Cooperative, Inc. has entered the Rhode Island market by adding Community & Teachers FCU, Columbus CU and Wave FCU to its international shared branching network. The...

After 'Shocking' Lesson, Day Air Offers Alternative.
August 4, 2006... SAN FRANCISCO -- Bill Burke still recalls what it felt like to be at town a hall meeting in his home community of Dayton, Ohio, four and a half years ago. The meeting had been called by community leaders who wanted to know what, if anything,...

Q&A On How CUs' Payday Loan Program Works.
August 7, 2006... Day Air CU CEO Bill Burke fielded a number of questions about the Dayton, Ohio-area credit union's payday lending alternative from participants at the CUES Annual Convention. Highlights from that question and answer session included: Q: Do...

California Reports Surge In Number Of CU 'Advocates'.
August 7, 2006... RANCHO CUCAMONA, CALIF. -- The success by credit union-backed candidates in the recent California primary elections demonstrate the effectiveness of the drive to build an "advocate network" by the California and Nevada CU Leagues, the...

Strategy For Expansion Includes Some 'Funky Stuff'.
August 7, 2006... SAN FRANCISCO -- A small, struggling community development credit union that was merged out of existence almost a decade ago has come back to life in one of the poorest areas of Washington, D.C. In 1997, District Government Employees FCU...

Home Loans Lead To Tax Help Leads To Awareness.
August 7, 2006... SAN FRANCISCO -- The road to some product offerings can be an odd one. Paul Grinde, for instance, was looking for ways to boost CoVantage Credit Union's mortgage volume and was meeting with a representative of a local community of...

People Are BLOGGING: An ongoing feature in The Credit Union Journal examining how credit unions are being mentioned on blogs.
August 7, 2006... Posted By: x43b Posted On: FatWallet.com Forum: Agriculture Federal Credit Union currently has a 6.0% share certificate offer. Minimum is $1,000 to open account. You must also open up a savings account with a minimum deposit of $5. I...

Credit Unions In Their Communities.
August 7, 2006... * Telhio CU and Corporate One FCU, Columbus, Ohio, hosted the 4th Annual Girls Just Wanna Have Fun golf outing. Sixty women from credit unions across the state participated and raised more than $3,000 to benefit Children's Hospital, an...

The $5 Bill Is Getting A Makeover.
August 7, 2006... WASHINGTON -- The $5 bill has beoome the latest to get a redesign from the U.S. Treasury department. The latest series of U.S. currency began with the introduction of the $20 note in 2003, and continued with the $50 note in 2004 and the $10...

CU Members Who Use Banks Are Still Loyal.
August 7, 2006... MADISON, WIS. -- Even if credit union members use banks for some of their financial transactions, they are much less loyal to those financial institutions, according to a new study by CUNA. The study suggests that fact "gives credit...

Fiserv Offers HSA Functionality For CUs.
August 7, 2006... BROOKFIELD, WIS. -- Fiserv, Inc. announced that all seven core processors in its Credit Union & Industry Products Group now offer the functionality to support health savings accounts (HSAs), with some Fiserv credit union clients seeing...

PSFCU Awards $300,000 In Scholarships.
August 7, 2006... BROOKLYN, N.Y. -- Polish & Slavic FCU has awarded a total of $300,000 in scholarships to 176 students - the largest amount of scholarship funds the credit union has ever granted. The 30-year-old credit union, with more than $1 billion in...

NCUA Rejects Ballots, Disclosures In Bid By Lafayette To Convert.
August 8, 2006... ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- NCUA has denied approval of member ballots and disclosures in the conversion to mutual savings bank of Lafayette FCU, one of three credit union conversions in the works. In a letter to Richard Garabedian, the Washington...

Federal Court Turns Back Members of DFCU Financial.
August 8, 2006... WASHINGTON -- Last week's federal court ruling dismissing a challenge by DFCU Financial members to the credit union's enforcement of its own bylaws has brought the issue of the legal force of bylaws into question. But legal experts...

Many Disappointed In Ruling, NCUA.
August 8, 2006... DEARBORN, Mich. -- A decision in federal court to throw out a case brought by members against DFCU Financial for allegedly failing to honor its own bylaws sent a disappointing message throughout the industry and pointed fingers back at NCUA....

Three Board Members In Cal. In Recall Vote.
August 8, 2006... EL CENTRO, Calif. -- Three members of the board of directors for Sun Community Federal Credit Union will face a recall vote July 31, the chairman of the board said. Rudy Moreno confirmed a meeting to vote on the possible recall of three...

Bernanke to Paulson: Listen, We're in Charge: There's something intoxicating about the Greenspan-Rubin versus Bernanke-Paulson comparison. But the latter duo's performance will be as deeply affected by political pressures and world events as by intellect and good judgment.
August 8, 2006... Much can be argued about the Clinton Administration, but what few can refute is the impressive stewardship of the nation's economy by Alan Greenspan, former Federal Reserve chairman, and Robert Rubin, former U.S. Treasury secretary. Fed...

Executive Changes: New Goldman Sachs Head Is Like Bull in China Shop: After Paulson, can Blankfein establish Asian ties?
August 8, 2006... Near the end of the second-quarter earnings call with analysts, Goldman Sachs CFO David Viniar finally got to the question on everyone's mind: When could analysts talk to newly named CEO and chairman Lloyd Blankfein? "I'm not sure what you...

Credit scoring: Here's The Plan: Borrowers can glimpse tomorrow's promise with a 'what-if' credit profile.
August 8, 2006... The unbreakable yolk of a FICO score is a proprietary enigma that leaves both a lender and a consumer in a relational fog. The banker can't decipher the weights and balances of credit history, payment patterns and defaults in a score, and the...

Wealth Management: HNW Pinch: Tech Shortfalls Taxing Advisors: New paradigms emerge on regulations, inheritance.
August 8, 2006... A vast wave of inherited wealth is expected to change hands in coming years, making millionaires out of once-middle-class citizens-and providing a challenge to wealth advisors who will likely find their current private-client platforms...

The Hard Sell.
August 8, 2006... When it comes to brokerage, most banks still seem to be hanging onto what has become the movie Field of Dreams' greatest achievement-the cliche that "if you build it, they will come." So far, according to a report by American Brokerage...

Spousal Benefits Enter the VA Fray.
August 8, 2006... Insurers are taking direct aim at retiring baby boomers by offering variable annuity living benefits for spouses. Major carriers have fine- tuned their guaranteed minimum withdrawal benefits (GMWB) by adding spousal riders. To mitigate the risk...

Further Fund Fee Drops Are Likely.
August 9, 2006... Mutual fund fees and expenses fell last year to the lowest levels in 25 years, according to the Investment Company Institute (ICI), a trend, which is likely to continue in the years ahead. The lower fees and expenses reflect the investment...

Product News.
August 9, 2006... The American Stock Exchange has introduced AIG CriticalCare Plus. The policy covers loss of independent living and provides a lump-sum benefit of up to $500,000 upon initial diagnosis of a critical illness, including cancer, stroke or heart...

Security: Siloing Enterprise Crooks: Citizens Bank of Rhode Island keeps a step ahead of foes' determination.
August 9, 2006... Internet crime fighting has never been more of a cat and mouse game than it is now, when some of the most highly touted methods of halting Web fraud may not only be ineffective, but be playing into the crooks' hands. That alone should...

Sizing Up Security: Are U.S. Banks Trailing U.K. Banks?
August 9, 2006... If best practices are indeed what the U.S. banking industry seeks with regard to online security, they'll likely find some of the answers across the pond. The irony is that U.K. banks, whose cultures are inherently more formal and...

Financial Planning For The Masses: Tool Makes It Affordable To Offer Planning To Regular Joes.
August 9, 2006... SAN ANTONIO -- Some members have millions to invest, whereas one has about $2,100- but one credit union has discovered a web-based financial planning tool that makes it affordable to offer financial planning to the masses. Alexandria,...

On Whose Side Is Nationwide? Analyst, CU Disagree On Price.
August 9, 2006... COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The sale of Nationwide FCU to Nationwide Bank has been hailed as a "fair" conversion of a credit union to a bank, because the acquiring bank is paying members a premium for the CU's equity. But at least one analyst is...

On Deadline.
August 9, 2006... Washington State Mulls Private Dep. Insurance OLYMPIA, Wash.-Washington has become the second state this year to begin deliberations on the reintroduction of private deposit insurance for state-chartered credit unions. The Department...

Journal Makes Big Changes In Daily Briefing, Website.
August 9, 2006... WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- The Credit Union Journal has unveiled several major changes to both its Daily Briefing and website at www.cujournal.com, all of which will provide significantly more value to subscribers. Subscribers to The...

Branch Performance: Profitability is in the Eye Of the (Bank) Beholder: Gathering the right data for the right measure.
August 9, 2006... Science, when applied to branch-performance measurement, can be blinding. So it comes as no surprise that applying simple profit/loss standards to branch-performance measurements can overstate a wealthy suburban site and overlook a slow, but...

Fresh Ink.
August 9, 2006... 1. Texas Regional Bancshares agreed to be bought by Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria of Spain for $2.16 billion. BBVA operates in 32 countries. The deal significantly increases BBVA's presence in the Lone Star State after its acquisition of...

Mergers & FOM.
August 10, 2006... Big Mergers Rule The Day, Or Month ALEXANDRIA, VA.-NCUA said it approved 30 credit union mergers in May, many of them combining two large credit unions. Georgia Telco FCU, ($986 million) joined the billion-dollar club with the acquisition...

Total Return To The Savers During First Quarter, 2006.
August 10, 2006... WASHINGTON -- This page features credit unions that have been identified, according to one set of criteria, as delivering superior value to their members on the deposit side of the business. Determining how a credit union stands relative...

Insurance As A Member Builder.
August 10, 2006... MIAMI, FLA. -- How's this for a best practice in SEG development: get someone else to sell the credit union for you. That's exactly what Conseco Services tries to offer when it goes into various firms offering special insurance programs...

REAL Solutions Moves To NCUF.
August 10, 2006... WASHINGTON -- The Filene Research Institute is turning over its REAL Solutions pilot program to the National Credit Union Foundation, which intends to take the low- wealth outreach program national. Credit unions in three states-Wisconsin,...

CUNA's Economists Projecting Economic Slowdown In 2007.
August 10, 2006... WASHINGTON -- Economists with CUNA are projecting a notable economic slowdown in the U.S. during 2007, although they do not believe the economy will slide into recession. "The coming year will be a difficult one for credit unions as the...

Authentication: Managers Of ID, Fraud Are Red Hot: EMC's purchase of RSA was just the start. It was quickly followed by Entrust's acquisition of Business Signatures. Expect others.
August 10, 2006... The search for the most thorough and least intrusive identity platform will lead lots of firms that play in the ID space to go on the lookout themselves-for acquisitions and partnerships. The ID-management space was buzzed last month by...

Cash Management: Back Offices Deal With a "Cash-22": Streamlining a cash-management infrastructure doesn't shorten the miles among ATMs, branches and Fed processing centers. Instead, banks are opening up to "virtual vaults.".
August 10, 2006... While e-checks and e-payments dominate the equation for back-office investments, cash remains a bulky, cumbersome quotient for banks. Network investments can make debit and ACH transactions cheaper to process, but scaling cash management...

News Makers.
August 10, 2006... MC Paypass Users Stash The Cash MasterCard credit and debit cardholders outfitted with PayPass-enabled cards or devices upped their payment usage 18 percent above cards lacking the contactless feature, according to MasterCard's report...

Tools & Resources.
August 10, 2006... Big Producer Interviews has launched a subscription service of weekly interviews with advisers ranked in the top 1% of the industry. The service is free of charge and offers a variety of listening formats, including podcasts for iPods and...

Coming In from the Cold: How a North Sea oil rigger found his true calling advising clients in a small, rural hamlet.
August 10, 2006... It's a long way from the North Sea oilrigs off the coast of Scotland to Jamestown, N.Y., a small, rural town of around 33,000 people. It's also a long way from freezing rain and 100-mile-an-hour winds to managing finances behind a desk in New...

Top Tech Deals.
August 11, 2006... Number One A streamlining Freddie Mac is outsourcing the processing and recordkeeping of its $700 billion portfolio in mortgage-backed securities and short-term assets to JPMorgan's Worldwide Securities Services. Number Two ...

Techies.
August 11, 2006... Rajiv Dutta was named president of PayPal, succeeding Jeff Jordan. Jay Norman, president and COO of DiamondCluster, will step down from the management consulting firm, effective the end of the month. It agreed to sell its continental...

Social Computing: MyBankSpace.com: User Trends Tracked: A study from Forrester shows customers of Internet-focused banks and brokerages are most attuned social online activities.
August 11, 2006... If you're a customer of HSBC Group, ING Direct or ShareBuilder, odds are you're not putting the mouse down after a trade or deposit. The social computing phenomenon that afflicts chat-room addicted teens is moving to older-and more...

Creative Marketing: Banks' reticence to put marketing muscle behind their reps is spurring some creative advisers to blow their own horns.
August 11, 2006... Last March, Wachovia Corp. launched an experiment in "experiencial" marketing. Targeting a rapidly growing retirement capital in Sarasota, Fla., the bank placed print advertising in national magazines such as Money, Fortune and Business 2.0, as...