Banking Wire articles from January 2006

Banking Wire archives from January 2006

Empire Corp., Mid-States Plan Merger.
January 3, 2006... WARRENVILLE, Ill. -- Mid-States Corporate FCU and Empire Corporate FCU are exploring a potential merger that would create an $8.5-billion entity serving some 25% of the nation's natural-person credit unions. "Scale is getting to be very...

On Deadline.
January 3, 2006... Ruling In Favor Of CUMIS In BJ's Breach MADISON, Wis.-CUMIS Insurance Society's lawsuit against BJ's Wholesale Club and Fifth Third Bancorp related to a massive credit card data breach at the wholesalers is moving forward now that a...

CU Employees' Personal Data Stolen From Car.
January 3, 2006... EUGENE, Ore. -- Oregon Community Credit Union here has moved quickly to protect its employees from identity theft after a break-in potentially exposed their personal information. A vehicle belonging to an Oregon Community CU employee was...

No Good Deed Goes...
January 3, 2006... TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Alabama Credit Union's good deed has not had the best of consequences. After moving quickly to notify members there had been a credit card breach at Sam's Club that invloved approximately 500 members, local media picked up...

Florida League Overhauls Board Representation Structure.
January 3, 2006... TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- The Florida league is seeking to change the way its board members are selected. Under a proposed plan, the FCUL Board will eventually be composed of directors chosen based on membership size rather than geographic location...

Worth Noting.
January 3, 2006... Unsung Heroes Sought In Calif. RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif.-The Historical Preservation Committee of the California league is seeking nominations for its new "Unsung Heroes" award, designed to honor deserving individuals with at least 20 years...

If You're Making Just One '06 Resolution, A Suggestion.
January 3, 2006... If you haven't made your New Year's Resolutions- and why rush if you're still working on those 2005 promises you made to yourself? - we have a resolution for you that will be easy to implement, doesn't involve any sacrifice, shouldn't mean too...

CU Aims Product At Abusers Of Overdraft.
January 3, 2006... LUTHERVILLE, Md. -- First Financial FCU is throwing out a safety line to members who are misusing its courtesy pay program, and who migh also otherwise reach out to predatory payday lenders. Called Safety Line, the new service is sort of a...

Survey: Consumers Want Gift Card Under Tree.
January 3, 2006... PURCHASE, N.Y. -- A new consumer survey by MasterCard International found that this holiday season 79% of those surveyed would rather receive a $100 prepaid gift card than a more traditional gift worth the same value. More than 80% of those...

50,000 Turn To Payday Lending Alternative.
January 3, 2006... RALEIGH, N.C. -- More than 50,000 members of State Employees' Credit Union (SECU) have turned to a payday lending alternative program since it was introduced four years ago. The credit union said 53,600 members have borrowed via its Salary...

False Statements About Banks And Subchapter S.
January 4, 2006... In a December 5th opinion piece titled "New ABA Chair's Zeal Leads To Attack Upon-Banks!" Dave Chatfield, the president and CEO of the California and Nevada Credit Union Leagues, attempts once again to use the Subchapter S argument to attack...

A Fair Warning To All Institutions About Proposal.
January 4, 2006... The FDIC has issued their second Financial Institution Letter (FIL) specifically cautioning financial institutions to, "investigate the implementation of multi-factor authentication methods, which would limit the ability of identity thieves to...

Credit Union Journal April Conference Will Focus On Best Practices.
January 4, 2006... MIAMI -- Credit unions across the country have developed numerous, innovative best practices across a range of disciplines. Now they're going to share them. The Credit Union Journal has announced plans to host its first-ever Best Practices...

CUSO Offering Biz Continuity Services Opens.
January 4, 2006... ROCKEVILLE, Md. -- With Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma still fresh in the public's mind, and now with winter storms here, a Maryland CUSO is set to offer credit unions what it says is a long-term, turnkey solution for serving members during...

CU's Disaster Plan Leads To Kit For Community.
January 4, 2006... LOS ANGELES -- Helping raise funds for victims of one disaster, Hurricane Katrina, led one credit union here to review its own disaster plan, which in turn led to disaster planning assistance for members themselves. As First City Credit...

Missouri's CUs Part of Program Aimed At Curbing Financial Abuse of Elderly.
January 4, 2006... ST. LOUIS -- One elderly man had struggled with alcohol before losing his paycheck to two young sisters. Another elderly woman with slight dementia cried as she told a teller that her daughter was stealing from her. One daughter convinced her...

Advice On Using Compensation To Link Revenue And Costs.
January 4, 2006... LAS VEGAS -- Costs related to compensation and benefits account for almost half of all non-interest expenses at credit unions, and have been increasing at a rate of 7% or more annually. The key to staying on top of the situation lies in...

Looking Forward: CUNA Mutual Overhauls Service.
January 4, 2006... MADISON, Wis. -- As part of an ongoing overhaul of operations under new CEO Jeff Post, CUNA Mutual has made further changes to its product offerings and executive team. The company said that its product leaders now report directly to members of...

Looking Back: CUNA Updates History Of Movement.
January 4, 2006... MADISON, Wis. -- A new book that updates the history of the credit union movement has been published by CUNA. Called "People, Not Profit: The Story of the Credit Union Movement" touches on "every historical figure, significant event, and piece...

Product & Service.
January 4, 2006... APPRO Staff Get Certifications BATON ROUGE, La.-APPRO Systems, Inc., a provider of automated credit risk management and financial technologies for the lending industry, said that 13 of its employees have been certified as Project...

Pay to Play.
January 5, 2006... This issue is all about financial planning-the cover story, Rep Zone, the feature on Wachovia. Yes, this is the way the industry's headed, no doubt about it. The question is, does anyone outside the industry know about it? The answer? Probably...

SEC's Advisory Rule Leaves Big Questions Approaching January Deadline.
January 5, 2006... The New Year appears likely to bring a scramble for many investment firms to comply with new regulatory language distinguishing financial advisory and traditional brokerage services, a distinction that may require reps to adopt registered...

Online Fraud: Can Fear Cause Customers To Bolt From Banks?: Industry pros say calming fears can fight attrition.
January 5, 2006... Customers feel more threatened than ever by the mere thought of online fraud-including ID theft, phishing, pharming and keylogging-and some industry observers say consumers are getting ready to vote with their feet if they think their...

Trade Services: Primitive On Paper: Banks are bulking up IT to cash in on a growing trade-services market.
January 5, 2006... Free trade and globalization are modern concepts, but Beth Enslow needs a time machine to describe how the processes behind international trade works for most U.S. companies. Instead of common Web-based procurement and settlement services...

Pondering A Community Charter? Some Steps To Be Taken First.
January 5, 2006... LAS VEGAS -- Boards must recognize that the move to a community charter involves more than just paperwork, according to one person. Prior to converting to a community charter, a credit union must overcome misconceptions, define the...

'Long, Lonely Road Ahead?': One Analyst Has Less-Then-Rosy Forecast For Coming Years.
January 5, 2006... LAS VEGAS -- At least one analyst is projecting a "long, lonely stretch ahead" for credit unions. In addition to a sharp decline in the number of credit unions over the next 36 months, the same analyst is predicting for credit unions...

Product & Service.
January 5, 2006... FedComp Releases New Module FAIRFAX, Va.-FedComp has released a new module to enhance it's TNG software solution. The company said its automated 5300 processing is now available for both the in-house and online versions of TNG. "With our...

CUJ Q&A.(Interview)
January 5, 2006... The CU Journal Asked Directors At CUES Meeting: 'What is The Most Important Issue For You At This Meeting?' Dr. David Sherer, outgoing chairman of the board, Group Health CU, Seattle There wasn't any one issue. Because I'm the outgoing...

Katrina and the SBA.
January 5, 2006... I recently visited hurricane-ravaged New Orleans. Words cannot describe the devastation that Hurricanes Katrina and Rita brought to the area. But, let me try. Sixteen parishes (counties) surrounding New Orleans were devastated by the...

The Best in Class Put Fundamentals Into Play: Without question, the CFO has become the new face of financial services. A key player in any organization's strategic team, the CFO today must also juggle financial, risk and compliance efforts.
January 5, 2006... One would think choosing U.S. Banker's All-Star Banking Team would be a snap, given the record profits recorded in 2005. But a confluence of factors such as increased regulatory pressure, rising interest rates and stiffer competition meant...

New Call Reports Add Brokerage Data.
January 6, 2006... The latest proposal to change banks' call reports-quarterly reports to The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. of a bank's financial condition and income-only gathered mild industry interest, and comments on suggestions to expand reporting on...

Product News.
January 6, 2006... Fidelity has launched a municipal bond fund available through advisers. The Advisor Intermediate Municipal Income Fund invests at least 80% of its assets in income tax-exempt municipal securities in classes A, T, B, C and Institutional. The...

Mortgage Lending: Homefield's Surprise Prize: A project revealed an opportunity to expand into wholesale lending.
January 6, 2006... What started as a project to streamline the retail mortgage operation at Homefield Financial early last year abruptly changed course when executives realized they could use the vendor, Mortgage Cadence, to establish an entirely new line of...

Better Info Security Driven By Regulatory Compliance.
January 6, 2006... The primary driver of information security is-surprise, surprise-regulatory compliance. A new survey by Ernst & Young cites the "sheer number of regulations and the consequences of not complying with them" as the reasons that information...

FDIC Coverage To Get First Boost In 20 Years.
January 6, 2006... WASHINGTON -- Legislation that would make the first changes to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) in 20 years continued to move forward last week with House Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommittee Chairman Spencer Bachus...

Trades Expecting Little More From Congress.
January 6, 2006... WASHINGTON -- Though Congress has much on its plate, don't expect to see much of it get done before the year is out, according to both CUNA and NAFCU. The last of the appropriations bills will take the front burner as they must be finished...

House, Senate Pass Bills Creating New $1 Coins.
January 6, 2006... WASHINGTON -- The Senate has joined the House in passing The Presidential $1 Coin Act, which would call for a series of dollar coins in which the coin's face would change four times a year, displaying images of the presidents in the order they...

The CU Journal Daily.
January 6, 2006... Overvalued Markets On Decline CLEVELAND-The number of U.S. home markets considered "extremely overvalued" has declined slightly as mortgage rates have risen and prices have eased, according to one study. Sixty-five markets are now...

Shareholder Activism: Despite NYSE Setback, RI Presses Sovereign Fight: Investor pursuing two board seats in spring.
January 6, 2006... As the press-release attacks continue between Phil-adelphia-based Sovereign Bancorp and Relational Investors, the institutional investor is refusing to abandon its quest to get two directors on the bank's board at the annual meeting this...

Rising interest Rates: Expect New Corporate Focus, Escalating Consumer Fees: A flattening yield curve goes even flatter.
January 6, 2006... Lest anyone think interest rates are a bore, mull this over: Escalating rates in 2006 will force a major focus on corporate customers, while consumers will cough up much more in fees. Or this: After months of bemoaning weak long-term rates,...

Tools & Resources.
January 9, 2006... Bloomberg Press has released Tax Aware Investment Management: The Essential Guide by Douglas Rogers. The publication is nonacademic and details new findings and tools to help advisers improve their clients' portfolios, estate planning and...

Going the Extra Mile: How First National's DiMattio produced $1 million on a discount fee business.(Company Profile)
January 9, 2006... Chris DiMattio wants the best of both worlds-a million-plus in revenues and a solid fee-based business-and he's worked hard to make it happen. Nine years into his career as the sole adviser at First National Community Bank in Dunmore, Pa.,...

Data Breach Notification: States Differ On When To Sound The Alarm: Legislative action on how and when to sound the alarm when there's been an incident has lagged on the federal level, leading to a broad mix of state measures.
January 9, 2006... To all banks confronting disparate laws and regulations on data breach notification: the FDIC feels your pain. Not in sympathy, mind you, but empathy. The agency faced a data breach episode of its own earlier this year when it...

News Makers.
January 9, 2006... PWC says the price of fraud is on the rise A PricewaterhouseCoopers corporate survey on global economic crime found that fraud costs the equivalent of $1.7 million (U.S.) per company, and totaled more than $2 billion over the last two...

Worth Noting.
January 9, 2006... Green Car Loans Are Offered SAN JOSE, Calif.-Technology Credit Union has introduced a "Green Car" loan program offering special lowered interest rates on new hybrid cars. "Tech CU's goal with this new product is to help save its members...

NCUA Pledges To Work With 2005's Storm-Struck CUs.
January 9, 2006... NEW ORLEANS -- It is nearly five months after Hurricane Katrina ripped through the Gulf Coast, but 12 credit unions here in the Big Easy still aren't working out of their own offices. But on the other hand, the dire predictions of mass...

Cheney To Succeed Chatfield In California.
January 9, 2006... RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif. -- The California and Nevada Credit Union Leagues named William Cheney as the trade organizations' new president and CEO, effective March 1, 2006. The announcement follows a lengthy search to find a successor to...

Would-Be Robber Goes Down In Flames.
January 9, 2006... FLORISSANT, Mo. -- A member was arrested minutes after attempting to rob First Community Credit Union during which he threatened to start a fire with gasoline if his demands weren't meant. John Chappel, 48, of Ferguson, entered the branch...

Hits and Has-Beens.
January 9, 2006... Deanna Oppenheimer has been appointed chief executive of UK retail banking at Barclays, following the resignation of director and UK banking chief executive Roger Davis. Additionally, Gary Hoffman has been named chairman of UK Banking and...

Fresh Ink.
January 9, 2006... 1. Wachovia plans to sell its corporate trust and institutional custody businesses to U.S. Bank for $720 million. Wachovia says the sale would better enable it to focus on retail brokerage, asset management and retirement. The deal is set to...

The Treasure Buried in Financial Planning: With baby boomers coming of age, banks are eager to strengthen client relationships through financial planning, but they will have to navigate some rocky shoals to get there.
January 10, 2006... Banks have been slow to pick up on brokerage trends such as the move toward financial planning over sales of one-off packaged products. But there are good reasons they might want to make up for lost time. Millions of baby boomers start retiring...

Annuities in the Hotseat: The move away from transactional business combined with regulatory scrutiny could change the role annuities will play in retirement planning's evolution.
January 10, 2006... As banks move into financial planning to tap into the boomer billions, they are also upgrading their product mix to diversify away from the traditional bank-brokerage product of choice-fixed annuities. Throw in ongoing regulatory scrutiny and a...

Viruses And Fraud: Criminals Are Thinking Broader-and Globally: The number of attackers looking to victimize multiple firms simultaneously is growing-and European banks are the recent target. U.S. banks cannot rest easy.
January 10, 2006... A Trojan virus targeted 32 European banks in November, clearly demonstrating a shift in the tactics of Internet thieves from attacking a single financial institution to designing malware that preys on numerous institutions at once, says Amir...

Top Tech Deals.
January 10, 2006... Number One Metavante inked an acquisition agreement with AdminiSource Corp., which will retain its brand and become an affiliate of Metavante. The move bolsters Metavante's position in printed and e-payment services. Number Two ...

Banks Claim NCUA In Crisis In Letter.
January 10, 2006... WASHINGTON -- Two community bank groups have sent a letter to Congress that claims a personnel shortage at NCUA may be the first step in a financial crisis among America's credit unions, and demanding that the Government Accountability Office...

On Deadline.
January 10, 2006... Lee Leaves Southwest Corp For U.S. Central LENEXA, Kan.-Francis Lee has been named CEO at the $33.2-billion U.S. Central Credit Union effective Feb. 1. Lee is currently CEO at the $8-billion Southwest Corporate FCU in Dallas. Lee will fill...

Strong 3Q Numbers Are Posted.
January 10, 2006... ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- The nation's federally insured credit unions reported "strong" 12.1% annualized loan growth, according to NCUA, while delinquent loans remained below 2004 levels during the first nine months of 2005 according to third quarter...

Special High-Rate Deal Is Offered.
January 10, 2006... SCHENECTADY, N.Y. -- Sunmark FCU is offering potential members in its newly added field of membership a holiday premium. Through a new online product called RateEdge.com, the $450-million credit union is enticing potential members to sign...

M&A: Turkey's Strong Growth Beckons Western Banks: Institutions pooh-pooh EU membership quest.
January 10, 2006... Forget Latvia. Ignore Poland and Romania. And don't even think about Estonia. The real poster child for opportunity in Euroland is Turkey, which has become the darling of Western banks looking for expansion options and economic stability. Never...

Pipeline.
January 10, 2006... SunTrust Joins 50-plus employee club SunTrust Banks, Inc. of Atlanta, GA, became the first bank to join AARP's Featured Employers program, an initiative launched last February to help keep people over 50 in the workforce. SunTrust is one...

Oher Bills in the Works.
January 11, 2006... There is movement on long-term care insurance that could be a boon for banks. The Johnson-Pomeroy Long Term Care Insurance bill, a bipartisan effort led by Nancy Johnson (R., Conn.) and Earl Pomeroy (D., N.D.), would allow LTC products to offer...

Giant Steps: Wachovia Securities is way ahead of other banks in converting bank brokerage into a full-fledged financial planning powerhouse.
January 11, 2006... Wachovia Securities is a trendsetter in bank brokerage. Over the past two years, it has successfully instituted aggressive strategies to move from a largely transaction-based model to a full-fledged financial planning shop in order to tap into...

The Job Landscape: Tech Workers Carrying A Heavier Workload: New business projects and security measures are putting more on the plates of corporate IT workers.
January 11, 2006... The bad news is technology workers have very full schedules, due to a much heavier workload than in the past. The good news is the workload is due at least in part to an improved business environment rather than layoffs. A recent Robert...

Offshoring: Banks Aren't Fully Milking The Passage To India: Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu says that while the number of institutions shipping jobs overseas is ballooning, most aren't producing optimum performance.
January 11, 2006... More financial services companies across the globe are choosing to go offshore with service functions and operations, but many have yet to truly exploit the cost-savings and efficiency potential, according to a study by Deloitte Touche...

Ensweiler Takes The (PAC) Plunge.
January 11, 2006... FARMERS BRANCH, Texas -- The Texas Credit Union League asked credit unionists what would they do to help preserve the credit union movement-but fortunately, the league didn't expect everyone to jump out of a perfectly good airplane...just its...

Worth Noting.
January 11, 2006... Online Reservations For Wegners WASHINGTON-Reservations are now being accepted for the 18th Annual Herb Wegner Memorial Awards Dinner, Feb. 26, 2006 at the Hilton Washington on the opening night of CUNA's Governmental Affairs Conference...

...Has Insights Into Volunteerism.
January 11, 2006... WILMINGTON, Del. -- A long-time credit union volunteer who has now joined the professional ranks has some unique ideas on how credit unions can attract new blood to their boards. Patrick Mahaney, who has served on the board of DEXSTA FCU...

League's New Pro...
January 11, 2006... WILMINGTON, Del. -- Patrick Mahaney has the perfect cure in case he develops a swelled head from his new post as president of the Delaware Credit Union League: shoveling snow. "It's kind of hard to get a big head when you have to shovel...

What's the Best Way to Get Ahead? Perfect the Right Kind of Cheating.
January 11, 2006... Cheat to Win: The Honest Way to Break All the Dishonest Rules in Business By Bob MacDonald Paradon Publishing, 349 pages, $26.95 Bob MacDonald has a reputation in the business world as an iconoclast, even a loose cannon, and it...

Sallie Mae Wins ILC Status, While Wal-Mart Awaits Word.
January 11, 2006... Student-loan lender Sallie Mae, also known as SLM Corp., has won approval from both the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Utah Department of Financial Institutions for an industrial bank charter. This month, Sallie Mae expects to begin...

Saying Goodbye: It's not easy to do, but sometimes cutting off unprofitable clients is the only way to grow.
January 12, 2006... Managing a client list, and pruning those clients who either don't have enough assets under management or require too much attention, is among the more emotional issues that financial advisers face. It's so difficult, in fact, that many simply...

Kissing Cousins: Allocations to separate account and mutual funds are strikingly similar.
January 12, 2006... If a client or prospective investor asks you how the universe of mutual fund choices compares with that of separate accounts, you might want to use the following overview in your consultation. Domestic equity separate accounts inhabit a kind of...

Segmentation is Bill-Pay's Magic Bullet.
January 12, 2006... About 11.4 million U.S. households are now using banks' online bill pay sites, according to Forrester Research. Thanks to the enthusiasm of the Generation X/Y users and bill-pay's predominantly free availability, bill-pay adoption efforts by...

Wholesale Mortgages: UBOC's Broker Road Becomes Automated: The lender's strategy is heavy on implementing electronic loan execution. The goal? Cutting cost and time-and eliminating paper from desks of customer-facing partners.
January 12, 2006... At Union Bank of California, removing logistical hoops from mortgage execution has jumped into high gear, with a strategy that includes adjusting the amount of paper documentation needed based on a specific loan's characteristics, with some...

Ohio's State Chartered CUs To Get Expanded Powers.
January 12, 2006... COLUMBUS, Ohio -- State-chartered credit unions will get expanded powers to offer new services and ease operational restrictions under a credit union reform bill passed by the state legislature in the final days of this year's session. The...

Product & Service.
January 12, 2006... Corp. Offers Capture Solution MIDDLETOWN, Penn.-Mid-Atlantic Corporate has agreed to offer Bluepoint's C21 Capture solution to its credit union members as a preferred in-branch solution for remote branch capture. "By using Bluepoint...

How (And Why) One CU Manages 2,400 Employee Groups.
January 12, 2006... HONOLULU -- A typical day for James Haid consists of contacting eight to 10 select employee groups (SEGs), putting on presentations for new employees at some of the bigger company SEGs, and making phone calls to small companies. Haid has...

SECU Highlights Proportion Of Women On Board.
January 12, 2006... WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- State Employees Credit Union here has been shining a spotlight on a recent study regarding the proportion of women serving on the boards of the 100 largest banks in the United States. In the process, it is also noting...

Noted and Noteworthy.
January 12, 2006... Sixty-five percent of college students carry credit card debt, with over 50 percent charging their cards to the limit some or most of the time, according to a new survey funded by Oppenheimer Funds and conducted by Smith College. This debt is...

Bubble, Bubble, Toil and Trouble?: Although analysts agree the housing market is softening, they differ on whether a housing bubble exists. Like the Loch Ness monster, doubters say they'll believe it when they see it.
January 12, 2006... Stock picker extraordinaire Jim Cramer is a believer, but Fed Reserve chairman-elect Ben S. Bernanke isn't. The debate over whether there's a housing market bubble-after five record-breaking years-reached new heights last quarter with...

Keeping It in the Family: Building a solid succession plan involves more than just the business owner.
January 13, 2006... Most entrepreneurs and family-owned businesses face a common problem-planning for the next generation of leadership. Note this interesting statistic: Of family business CEOs due to retire within five years, 55% have not yet chosen a successor....

Land of Milk and Money: Wisconsin's bank reps see business flow in from neighboring metropolitan centers.
January 13, 2006... While the region's metropolitan center is the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, many workers choose to live and retire in the great dairy state of Wisconsin. Bank-based advisers Matt Casey, a Fintegra investment representative at S&C...

Prepaid Cards: Mastercard Has Plastic, Will Travel: The credit card giant is joining the prepaid travelers-card fray, joining competitors American Express and Visa. Though still in its infancy, the market could surpass $7 billion in cards by 2010.
January 13, 2006... Until fairly recently, the travelers-check market was paper-based-a surprising trend, given the prevalence of debit cards in personal checking. Industry heavyweight American Express was the first to offer its travelers checks in plastic form,...

Call Center Service: Looking For A Handle To Reduce 'on Hold': Institutions like Provident Bank are using call routing and data mining technology to reduce inbound call duration and to improve overall service for customers.
January 13, 2006... The combination of consumers waiting on hold for a customer service rep, redialing when they get the wrong department, sifting through an endless series of IVR options and then hanging up in frustration can be a toxic mix when it comes to...