Banking Wire articles from July 2003

Banking Wire archives from July 2003

Members Get Help From A Tutor: Purdue Employees FCU Reports Online Banking And Bill Payment Tutorials Have Boosted Usership, Cut Phone Center Calls.
July 1, 2003... A new online banking and bill payment platform featuring built-in tutorials is freeing up call center reps at Purdue Employees Federal Credit Union, said Gail Koehler, vice president of technology and retail delivery at the $344- million...

Most Congressmen Also CU Members: But Also A Few Surprises In Those Who Don't Belong To A Credit Union.
July 1, 2003... When credit union executives and lobbyists visit Capitol Hill to talk about credit union issues one thing they can bank on is a widespread knowledge of credit unions. That's because more than half the Senate and the House claim...

CUNA Mutual's CEO Sees Growing Role For Company In Helping Increase Lending.
July 1, 2003... As the bread and butter of credit unions' existence, making loans has always been a top priority. And that's exactly why CUNA Mutual Group (CMG) is looking for more ways to help credit unions grow their loan portfolios. With a new call...

Fiserv In Talks To Buy EDS' CU Biz.
July 1, 2003... The ever-acquisitive Fiserv Inc. is expected to swallow a big fish any day with a deal to acquire the remainder of the once-preeminent credit union business of Electronic Data Systems Corp. (EDS). If completed, the deal would follow last...

ON DEADLINE.
July 1, 2003... 74 More Arrested In 9-11-Related Theft NEW YORK-Another 74 members of Municipal CU were arrested for stealing more than $730,000 from the credit union's ATMs during the confusion following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World...

Performance Managment: An IT Battle Assessment.
July 1, 2003... Southern General Financial is a regional insurance company with aggressive plans to make its footprint much larger, a risky proposition in an unpredictable environment where every dollar counts. "As a growing company, we're trying to...

Spam-Cutting Rules May Aid Legitimate Marketers.
July 1, 2003... E-mail marketing regulations recently proposed by the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) could go a long way in supporting companies' legitimate on- line marketing efforts, while making it more difficult for "spammers" to abuse the power of...

How to Verify If Employees are Really, Truly Working.
July 1, 2003... The internet has transformed the way financial institutions do business. Pushing papers has been replaced by mouse-clicks and keystrokes mployees now use the Web to research and process quotes, communicate with co-workers via e-mail, issue...

CUNA Mutual, Farin Pilot Robust ATM Tool; Debut Set For This Week.
July 1, 2003... As the business of running a credit union has gotten more complex, the need for a robust ALM tool to aid in the decision-making is all the more important, according to CUNA Mutual Group, which is unveiling a new ALM software suite this week at...

Privacy Bill Again Dies In California.
July 1, 2003... Senate Bill 1, a financial privacy bill authored by California state Sen. Jackie Speier and supported by the California Credit Union League, was defeated last week in the state's Assembly Banking and Finance Committee. John Van Etten,...

CUs In Two Washington Markets Advertising Shared Branches.
July 2, 2003... The 10 credit unions here and in Olympia, Wash. that are part of a shared branching network have launched a television advertising campaign touting the benefits of the arrangement. According to the Washington Credit Union League, the...

Worth Noting.
July 2, 2003... Furnas First Female NAFCU Chair ARLINGTON, Va.-Diane Furnas, president of Southwest Airlines FCU in Dallas, has been elected chairman of NAFCU. Furnas will succeed outgoing Chair Jim Mills, president of Three Rivers FCU in Ft. Wayne, Ind....

What Your CU Can Do About Abduction-Robberies.
July 2, 2003... I've had the unhappy pleasure of following the increase in the targeting of CU staff for home invasions and robbery attempts (CU Journal, June 9). These invasions shake the confidence of both the employees and their families regarding the...

Turning Every Member Into A V.(o)I.P.: New Telephone Technology Is Not Only Saving Expenses For One CU, But Providing Greater Flexibility.
July 2, 2003... Call Mountain America Credit Union at its new corporate headquarters in September and you'll be speaking to an employee who's using a VoIP phone set. The pleasures of Voice-over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephone technology are manifold,...

Technology News.
July 2, 2003... House Unanimously Passes Truncation Act WASHINGTON-The House unanimously approved the Check Truncation Act which will let credit unions and banks process all checks electronically. Credit union members who want to receive paper checks will...

Online Advice Tool Is Proving Popular With Members.
July 2, 2003... New online wealth management tools are getting plenty of use at GTE Federal Credit Union, according to Rich Helber, chief financial officer at the $1.5- billion CU. More than 3,000 members clicked through the financial planning and advice...

Wireless Donation To Museum.
July 2, 2003... Visitors to America's Credit Union Museum now have wireless access to their laptop computers, thanks to a donation of wireless Internet access by COCC, an Avon, Conn.-based, member-owned outsourcing and software development company that...

Interactive Webinars Planned.
July 2, 2003... Callahan and Associates and the San Dimas, Calif.-based WesCorp are launching a series of interactive Webinars the companies say are designed to address credit unions' balance sheet management challenges and present potential solutions. ...

The Credit Union Journal's Reader TECH Questions.
July 2, 2003... Reader Question #1 What are the strategies for implementing aggregation that is directly connected to a CU's database rather than to a third party's system? Jim Hutchins, re:Member Data Services, Indianapolis. An effective, cost...

Collins Named CEO Of Newly Formed CUSO.
July 2, 2003... Scott Collins has been named president of Xtend, Inc., a new CUSO formed by 20 credit unions. Xtend says it will "act as a focal point for developing, acquiring, and-or delivering products and services to its members by leveraging the...

Kitsap CFCU Signs On The Red-Dotted Line.
July 3, 2003... Kitsap Community FCU said it contracted with RedDot Solutions to implement the company's content management server solution to manage its website. The system allows web content development teams to work in parallel on multiple initiatives....

ORC Signs U.S. Central; Plans Recapitalization.
July 3, 2003... Online Resources Corp., fresh off an e-payment contract with U.S. Central CU, said it hopes to stave off a delisting bid by the Nasdaq stock market by a recapitalization plan. Under the plan, Online Resources raised $4.4 million through a...

CU-Developed Queue Tool Keeps Leads Fresh, MSRs Happy.
July 3, 2003... Outbound call queuing technology is riding piggy-back on existing collections software, under the innovation of a credit union here that was looking for a low-cost way to automate sales follow-ups. NAFCU this month substantiated SunState...

Systems Tweak Enables Automated Overdraft Privilege Program.
July 3, 2003... A two-week system tweak-and "extensive homework"-is what it took for San Diego Metropolitan Credit Union (SDMCU) to extend overdraft privileges to members, according to Gloria Liberti, vice president of operations. That way,...

How 2 CUs Limit Risks Associated With Web Links.
July 3, 2003... Due diligence and disclosure are the keys to mitigating weblinking risk on credit union websites, according to John Worthington, senior vice president of corporate communications at Security Service FCU. Most credit unions link from...

The Wide World Web Pioneer: The Story of How A Credit Union Became The First Financial Institution On The Internet.
July 3, 2003... With banks' deep pockets and aggressive investments in technology, it's easy to lose sight of the fact that the very first financial institution to not only have a web presence but to actually transact business on the Internet was not a bank...

'Dramatic Promotions' Credited For Boost In Online Bill Pay Volume.
July 3, 2003... Deere & Company Credit Union is reporting a significant enrollment boost in its online bill payment services following a series of "dramatic promotions" on its website. One ad includes a photograph of a man with his head in his hands...

PSCU Financial Services Hosts Hawaii Session; Intros Partnership.
July 3, 2003... PSCU Financial Services will host an educational session for Hawaii-based credit unions aimed at providing the tools and techniques to build card program profitability. The one-day meeting, to be held July 10 at the Radisson Waikiki in...

CreditunionsROCK Site Now Rolling Following Overhaul & Update.
July 3, 2003... CreditunionsROCK.com, the award-winning website launched by the Michigan league in 2000 to target the "wired generation"-young adults born since 1981-has been given an overhaul. The league noted that while creditunionsROCK.com has retained...

RDS Debuts New Products.
July 3, 2003... re:Member Data Services (RDS) introduced several new products and service offerings during its annual Strategic Partner Conference, held in Bonita Springs, Fla. More than 50% of the RDS client base was represented at the event . ...

Jack Henry Enters Partnerships.
July 7, 2003... Jack Henry & Associates, Inc. announced that it has entered into strategic partnerships with The Reserve Funds, Focus Technology Group, Inc., and eFunds Corp. to address deposit growth and fraud detection and prevention. Among the...

Hill Receives Aftech's STAR Award.
July 7, 2003... AFTECH has created the STAR Award to honor a client, employee of a client or third party for contribution to the AFTECH Technology Partnership. Unveiled at its recent annual client conference in Las Vegas, the first-ever STAR Award went...

TCFCU To Convert To USERS.
July 7, 2003... USERS Inc., a unit of Fiserv, Inc., announced that Tulare County Federal Credit Union will convert to its DataSafe system in August. According to Tulare County FCU CEO Philip Clarey, USERS' system architecture supports the CU's strategic...

'Next Product To Sell' Is Intro'd.
July 7, 2003... New technology from Summit Information Systems will help credit unions enhance relationships with members, support profitability goals and edge out competitors in the race to attract new members, the firm said. According to Summit...

EDS, Harte-Hanks In MRM Deal.
July 7, 2003... EDS and Orlando-based Harte-Hanks, Inc. said they have reached an agreement to make member relationship management (MRM) software-the credit union version of customer relationship management (CRM)-more accessible and affordable for EDS...

Digital Defense Adds 100th Client.
July 7, 2003... Digital Defense, Inc., a provider of managed security solutions, said that Coastal Federal Credit Union has become the 100th subscription to its Proactive Managed Services suite. The Proactive Managed Services suite includes unlimited...

Lack Of Efficient System For Electronic Bill Presentment Seen As Hurdle.
July 7, 2003... As more and more consumers pay their bills through the web, the need for an efficient system of electronic bill presentment has become more acute, with bankers and billers saying that e-billing services cannot go much further until the...

Worth Noting.
July 7, 2003... Four CUs Sign On With BALANCE SAN FRANCISCO-Four more credit unions have entered into a relationship with BALANCE, the financial education and counseling program for members. Telesis Community, Chevron Valley, Peninsula Postal and Merced...

CO-OP Network To Pay Record $7-Million Patronage Dividend.
July 7, 2003... The CO-OP Network said it will make a record patronage distribution of $7 million for 2002. The cash disbursement to member-shareholders, equal to 93% of net income from operations after taxes, and is 132% larger than declared last April....

Small Credit Unions At 1st Quarter, 2003.
July 7, 2003... Determining how a credit union stands relative to its peers is a complex issue. Callahan & Associates, Washington, D.C., has attempted to do so with its Return to the Member ranking system. According to Callahan's, Return to the Member...

Why CUs Must CO-OP.
July 7, 2003... ORLANDO, Fla. -- With credit unions disappearing at a rate of one a day, its high time the industry put the co-op back into the cooperative movement, according to one expert who suggested collaboration is the key to continuing healthy growth....

Notes On Growth.
July 7, 2003... On this page is overview coverage of Credit Union Journals Grow Show, which focused on strategies for growing all aspects of credit union operations. Did you miss the dozens and dozens of proven ideas for growth shared at this years meeting?...

Measuring Branch Traffic.
July 7, 2003... ORLANDO, Fla. -- While offering metrics on how to measure and manage growth to attendees at CU Journals Grow Show, John Dolan-Heitlinger said something else has to be understood first. I think you have to decide who you are going to serve,...

Ideas & Strategies Swapped.
July 7, 2003... ORLANDO, Fla. -- There was a lot of idea swapping going on at the Grow Show this year. Among the ideas shared: * From Neil Goldmanthe best strategic plan ever is one Goldman attributed to Los Angeles Police FCU: to create penetration among...

Where Members Do The Marketing.
July 7, 2003... ORLANDO, Fla. -- FORUM CU has put its money where its members mouths are. The billion-dollar Indianapolis-based credit union decided no one could tell the credit unions story better than the members themselves. In six years of telling...

CUJ Q&A: Economic Issues, Member Growth, Access To Capital Top CUNA Chair's Hit List.
July 7, 2003... TAMPA, Fla. -- Suncoast Schools FCUs Tom Dorety was elected chairman of the CUNA Board in March. Credit Union Journal caught up with the busy CUNA leader and CEO of the $6-billion Tampa, Fla. credit union to talk about his plans for the trade...

Under the Microscope: Latest Developments In Research.
July 7, 2003... Study: Debit Transactions Grow 14.4% In 2007 HOUSTONDebit card issuers, including credit unions, experienced a 14.4% growth in debit transactions in 2007, but that was a four-percentage-point decline from 2006. The results were tabulated as...

Colorado League CUSO Will Distribute Financial Education Program To CUs Nationwide.
July 7, 2003... DENVER -- Credit Union Strategic Partners here has aligned with FoolProof Financial Education Systems to offer financial education and literacy programs to CUs nationwide, including smaller CUs. A wholly owned CUSO of the Credit Union...

Eye On The Competition: Banks Tightening Loan Standards.
July 7, 2003... WASHINGTON -- The Federal Reserve reports that more banks are tightening lending standards on home mortgages, consumer loans, and business loans in response to a spreading credit crisis. The Fed said the percentage of banks reporting tighter...

Wescom IDS and Chex Systems Plan Integration.
July 8, 2003... Wescom IDS and Chex Systems, Inc, a wholly-owned subsidiary of eFunds Corp., said they plan to integrate Wescom IDS' automated Membership Application product with ChexSystems' New AccountChex service, AccountChex Plus service, and Qualifile,...

CU*Answers Intros 2 Releases.
July 8, 2003... CU*Answers has unveiled two new releases related to its flagship software product CU*BASE. The first release is for the CU*BASE teller platform, which will now include Non-Member Teller Services as a standard feature. "All CU*Answers...

Rembrandt Selected By CUSO.
July 8, 2003... CU Biz Source, the business lending CUSO of the Pennsylvania CU Association, has selected Bankers Systems Inc.'s Rembrandt Lending System for its member business lending (MBL) service. CU BizSource assists participating credit unions with...

More Move To OpenXChange.
July 8, 2003... Constitution Corporate Credit Union said that it and more than half of its membership have gone live with a new front-end account management system called OpenXchange. OpenXchange was developed in-house by SmartSource Solutions,...

CUSO Financial Debuts 'CAM'.
July 8, 2003... CUSO Financial Services (CFS) has introduced a new web-based management account platform. Called CUSO Asset Management (CAM), the platform allows CFS' investment advisory representatives to provide their high net-worth clients with access to...

PSI Signs Four New Clients.
July 8, 2003... Premier Systems, Inc. (PSI), which was recently acquired by Harland Financial Solutions, has signed four new credit union clients for online data processing services. Midland Community FCU in Midland, Texas; Citizen's Community CU in Devils...

qbt In Relationship With EPL.
July 8, 2003... qbt, a provider of real-time financial systems integration, announced it has expanded its relationship with EPL, a technology provider to credit unions. EPL has renewed its existing contract for licensing the MultiPoint Online Banking...

Investigations To Open The Door On Freddie's House.
July 8, 2003... The permanent scandal machine in the nation's capital is about to take a bite out of Freddie Mac. While the growing controversy (is it a scandal yet?) at the secondary mortgage market giant is currently restricted to accounting questions,...

The Bankers' Message.
July 8, 2003... When the mutual fund industry gathered for its annual meeting in Washington in late May, the mood among attendees was one of defensiveness. Feeling the heat from regulators, investors and the press for not doing more to avert the bubble, some...

If Waiting were a Sport, Women Would Win: Seventy-five percent of the workforce in banking is female, yet less than 25 percent of the C-suite is women. Why that is remains the subject of some debate.
July 8, 2003... Women in corporate America have undoubtedly made strides. Many report that gender-related workplace discrimination is no longer an issue. That said, 75 percent of the workforce in banking is female, yet less than 25 percent of the C-suite is...

Product & Service.
July 9, 2003... CUES Publishes New Guide MADISON, Wis.-CUES has published "Managing Uncertainty: A Guide for Credit Unions," which it designed to "expand your awareness about the future and provide assistance to your credit union in planning for potential...

Journal Daily.
July 9, 2003... Deluxe Offers 9/11 Tribute ST. PAUL, Minn.-Deluxe Corp. said last week it has introduced three new check designs, including the 'Heroes Triumph' line which honors the firefighters, police officers, and emergency workers who distinguished...

The Fair Approach: Tech Fairs Used To Boost Usage of Technology; Credit Union Gets Chance To Watch Members Navigate.
July 9, 2003... Electronic services attract the typical 20% of members at this $1.2-billion credit union-a fact that leaves management dissatisfied. "We want to do a little better," said Charlie Roberts, vice president of Information Technology at Travis...

Return From A Shark Attack: CEO Thankful And Back At Work After Being Attacked By Shark Whose Bite Barely Missed Artery.
July 9, 2003... For Julie Given-Glance, president and CEO of Grossmont Schools FCU, life is slowly returning to normal after she survived a harrowing attack by a shark in the waters off the island of Maui two months ago. On Nov. 17, 2002, Given-Glance,...

New Anti-Money-Laundering Rules Pose Special Problems for Bank Reps, Say U.S.A. Patriot Act Experts.
July 9, 2003... The cross-selling nirvana that was supposed to follow the demise of Glass-Steagall may be delayed in arriving thanks to new customer identification procedures required by the U.S.A. Patriot Act. As "financial institutions," both banks and...

First Quarter Better at Bank BDs.
July 9, 2003... Sales force productivity and revenues at bank broker-dealers increased during the year's first quarter, according to the Bank Insurance and Securities Association. The average Series 7 bank investment sales representative produced an...

KPMG Offers Banks Expertise on Demand.
July 9, 2003... In a departure from its long-standing business model, KPMG, the giant accounting and consulting firm, is encouraging banks and other financial intermediaries to tap into its expertise on an as-needed basis. Financial Advisor Resources, a...

Unemployment Pain: In Finance? Expect a Wait.: Industry experts say more self employment is likely.
July 9, 2003... Frank Richmond isn't waiting to find out about the job market. "It's terrible," the 35-year-old San Franciscan, a 15- year veteran of the Bay Area business scene, says cheerfully. Out of work three months since risk management software...

Turf wars: Windy City's Bank Scene About to Become 'It' Spot: BofA, Wamu and Fifth Third move in.
July 9, 2003... The joke in the Chicago banking community is that there are not enough street corners to accommodate all the bank branches that out-of-towners want to open up in their city. Richard Soukup, a partner at Grant Thornton in Chicago and a...

Hits and Has-Beens.
July 9, 2003... Freddie Mac replaced its top three execs over an accounting probe that prompted restatements of income spanning the last three years. Technically, only president and COO David Glenn was fired, for "serious questions as to the timeliness and...

Utah's CUs Take To Airwaves To Fight New Tax Proposal: Banker In Legislature Behind Plan.
July 10, 2003... The decades-old conflict between the banks and credit unions is expected to come to a head again this week when legislation supported by the banking lobby is introduced to apply the state's franchise tax to large credit unions. Rep....

Many SF CUs Not Aware of Law's Effect.
July 10, 2003... The San Francisco City and County Board of Supervisors passed a financial information privacy ordinance on Dec. 16, 2002, and Mayor Willie Brown signed it Dec. 20. Bit one month later many CUs remain unaware of it or mistakenly believe it...

ON DEADLINE.
July 10, 2003... Johnson To Vice Chair ALEXANDRIA, Va.-The NCUA board has voted unanimously to name JoAnn Johnson as the vice chair of the board. "I have long felt that the board should have a vice chair to make it clear beyond question who would chair a...

CU To Market Fujitsu ATMs In Hawaii; Macy's Signs On.
July 10, 2003... A visit to a trade show has started a chain of events that led to an unusual partnership-Honolulu City & County Employees FCU is marketing automated-teller machines manufactured by Fujitsu Transaction Solutions to other CUs in the state of...

New Products.
July 10, 2003... Nationwide Financial has begun selling separately managed accounts through the bank channel. Matt Riebel, president of Financial Institutions Distributors Agency, the Nationwide division that distributes through banks, said his company will...

Product Provider Notes.
July 10, 2003... Pioneer Investments, acquired by UniCredito Italiano in October 2000, said that its strategy of realigning and expanding its sales force has proven effective. Pioneer's sales have increased by 50% annually over the past two calendar years,...

Wachovia Team Re-engineers Service: With a focus on planning, a North Carolina group downplays product selling.
July 10, 2003... Every Tuesday over the last several weeks, most members of the 19- person brokerage team at Wachovia Bank's Greensboro, N.C., office were busy doing the same thing. Were they selling? Calling clients? Handling paperwork? No. They were...

Fresh Ink.
July 10, 2003... 1. Pacific Northwest Bancorp has reached a definitive agreement to merge with Wells Fargo for $590 million in common stock. Seattle-based Pacific Northwest acquired Bank of the Northwest last year and has $3.1 billion in assets with 58 branches...

Word Is...: Tumbleweeds on the Trading Floors in the Queen City.
July 10, 2003... A year on the market, 110,000 square feet. Vacant. Welcome to Wachovia's four-floor tale of woe. Call it a hangover from the First Union merger. When Wachovia was single, in 1999, it snapped up Interstate/Johnson Lane, brokerage and...

Noted and Noteworthy.
July 10, 2003... Former treasury secretary and Gipper chief of staff Don Regan died last month of cancer at the ripe age of 84. Regan-famous grouch and former Marine-met his match in first lady Nancy Reagan, who eased his way out of the White House before...

People.
July 11, 2003... Langley Federal Credit Union, Hampton, Va., elected to its board: Joyce M. Wright, chair; Buena E. Crawford, 1st vice chair; Richard A. Biege, 2nd vice chair; Jean M. Yokum, treasurer; George R. Hayes, secretary; Albert L. Braslow, Col....

The CUJ Daily.
July 11, 2003... Debit Deal To Cut CUs' Income ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.-PSCU Financial Services said it will alert its more than 500 credit union member-owners to adjust their budget incomes for the remainder of the year as a result of the recent "honor all...

Community Page.
July 11, 2003... AFCU Opens 2 New Branches Affinity Federal Credit Union recently held grand openings for its two new branch facilities at Lucent Technologies locations in Murray Hill, above, and Whippany, N.J. Wescom CU Joins Walk America ...

Taking A Bite From Predators: University Study Suggests Anti-Predatory Lending Law Is Achieving Its Goal Of Protecting Consumers.
July 11, 2003... An anti-predatory lending law enacted in this state more than three years ago has done exactly what was intended-protect consumers from unscrupulous lenders without limiting their access to subprime credit, said an author of a study on the...

Facing The Fee-Based Future: As banks seek more fee-based business, reps have to prepare themselves.
July 11, 2003... Banks' shift to fee-based business can appear glacial, both in terms of speed and inevitability. But that inexorable movement is prompting a change in the way bank investment sales managers hire reps. More than ever, banks are looking for...