Banking Wire articles from July 2005

Banking Wire archives from July 2005

Skyrocketing Home Prices Force Loan Creativity.
July 1, 2005... SAN JOSE, Calif. -- As home prices continue to skyrocket in the Golden State, one credit union that serves the San Francisco Bay Area is getting creative with mortgage products designed to help first-time buyers. Meriwest Credit Union,...

Home Loan Plan For Employees.
July 1, 2005... ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Midwest Financial Credit Union and UMHS Financial (a second CU brand for its University of Michigan Health System SEG) has added a home loan program to its employee benefits package. The new Employer-Assisted Housing Program...

Eye On The Competition.
July 1, 2005... MONROVIA, Calif.-Several companies are targeting specific immigrant groups to gain part of the money remittance business, The American Banker said. While the newcomers may not be able to displace dominant players like First Data Corp.'s Western...

Maine CUs Raise The Bread To Share Bread.
July 1, 2005... WESTBROOK, Maine -- In a first-of-its-kind event, the Maine Credit Unions' Campaign for Ending Hunger hosted an event called "Sharing The Bread" to celebrate National Hunger Awareness Day. At two separate events in Auburn and Brewer, Maine's...

RMJ Foundation Gets $7,500 Donation.
July 1, 2005... SAN DIMAS, Calif. -- WesCorp presented the Richard Myles Johnson Foundation with a $7,500 donation at WesCorp's Annual Meeting and Future Forum Golf Tournament to support the foundation's mission of promoting the education and professional...

Four People Indicted For Embezzlement.
July 1, 2005... THOMASVILLE, Ga. -- The former manager of Unified Singers FCU and three family members were charged in a federal indictment with an embezzlement scheme that forced the failure of the well-known community development credit union in April 2002....

Federal Employees' IDs Used To Tap CU.
July 1, 2005... WASHINGTON -- The FDIC was warning its employees last week of a security breach that allowed thieves to use employees' identities to take out tens of thousands of dollars of unsecured loans at NIH FCU, in nearby Rockville, Md. In a letter...

Mid-States To Market Services To Iowa Corp. Members.
July 1, 2005... DES MOINES, Iowa -- Iowa Corporate Central Credit Union and Mid-States Corporate have entered into a partnership in which Mid-States products will be marketed to Iowa Corporate's members. Iowa Corporate initiated the partnership after its...

Courts See 7.9% Rise In Bankruptcy Filings In 1Q 2005 7.9% In 1Q 2005.
July 1, 2005... WASHINGTON -- Bankruptcy filings were up 7.9% during the first three months of 2005, according to figures released by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. During the first quarter, consumers filed for 401,149 bankruptcies, up from...

CCU Members OK Conversion: But NCUA Says Ballots Don't Count.
July 6, 2005... RICHARDSON, Texas -- Community CU's proposed conversion to a bank charter passed with a whopping 71% of voting members favoring the move, not including ballots that were returned at the special meeting on the night of June 21. CCU CEO...

Senate: 'No Reg Relief Without Consumer Input'.
July 6, 2005... WASHINGTON -- Members of the Senate Banking Committee made it clear last week that efforts to pass a regulatory relief bill won't go very far until regulators get more input from consumers on the process. Sen. Paul Sarbanes (D-MD), the...

Getting On Schedule: How 1 CU Has Optimized Its Call Center.
July 6, 2005... SANTA ANA, Calif. -- An affordable workforce management solution sheds light on the call center schedule-but, like competing software, it falls short on branch scheduling, according to a credit union here. "We found a solution for call...

Wash. CUL CEO Wants Card Breach Costs Reimbursed.
July 6, 2005... FEDERAL WAY, Wash. -- The president of the washington Credit Union League is blasting the major credit card associations for hiding security breaches, and calling on CUNA Mutual to take the lead in pressing for credit unions to be reimbursed...

On Deadline.
July 6, 2005... New Group Wants CRA For Largest CUs WASHINGTON-Another advocacy group for low-income and minority lending has added its voice to those urging Congress to apply the Community Reinvestment Act to credit unions. In a letter sent to Rep....

The CU Journal's a Day in the Life of Credit Unions.
July 6, 2005... The Credit Union Journal is seeking participants for its Day in the Life Project. On the same day in August, CUs around the U.S. and world shoot photos of events in their offices, with the photos presented in a special issue during...

Matz Urges Democratic Leadership Council To Rethink Tax Proposal.
July 6, 2005... ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- NCUA Board Member Debbie Matz has sent a letter to the Democratic Leadership Council objecting to a DLC proposal to remove the tax exemption for credit unions of more than $10 million in assets. In the letter, Matz, who is...

CUNA: 'Analysis Wrong, Data Show CUs Better In Lending To Minorities'.
July 6, 2005... WASHINGTON -- In response to a study from the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) that claimed credit unions do not do as well as banks in lending to lower income and minority borrowers-and that therefore credit unions should be...

International CU Day Theme Chosen.
July 6, 2005... MADISON, Wis. -- "Credit Unions: Members Make It Happen" has been selected as the official theme for this year's International Credit Union Day (ICU Day), scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 20. The theme was chosen in an online vote conducted on...

Worth Noting.
July 6, 2005... NAFCU Honors 4 People, 2 CUs ARLINGTON, Va.-NAFCU has honored four individuals as part of its 2005 awards program, all of whom will be recognized at the trade group's annual conference in July in Las Vegas. Named as Profesionals of the...

A Down Under Observation That Belongs Up Front.
July 7, 2005... Six years ago in a hotel meeting room in Sydney, Australia, some of that country's trade association executives were discussing how credit unions Down Under had gotten into such a predicament. At issue was the troubling problem of...

CUs Testify On Reform Plan.
July 7, 2005... WASHINGTON -- Seeking to ensure credit unions are included in any Social Security reform, David O. Brock, president/CEO, of Community Educators CU in Rockledge, Fla., testified before the House subcommittee on Social Security reform last...

Boards Told To Pay Attention To Compensation Trends.
July 7, 2005... ORLANDO, Fla. -- Credit union boards that ignore fast-changing trends in executive compensation are "living on the edge" and jeopardizing the future prosperity of their credit unions and their executives' long-term financial future,...

Dupaco Wins Bergengren.
July 7, 2005... ORLANDO, Fla. -- Dupaco Community Credit Union of Dubuque, Iowa was named the 2005 recipient of CUNA Mutual Group's Roy F. Bergengren Award for High Achievement. The award was presented Thursday to Dupaco representatives during a...

Product & Service.
July 7, 2005... First Lenders, Realink In Deal AUSTIN, Texas-First Lenders Data, Inc., a provider of bundled settlement service solutions to the mortgage lending industry, and Realink Corp., a Tempe, Ariz.-based provider of real estate appraisal and...

Nicknaming The System: You'll Find Crystal, Wes and LUCY At Some CUs, Although They're Not On The Payroll.
July 7, 2005... BEAVERTON, Ore. -- Her real name is "the channel management solution and cross-sales platform"-but you can call her "Crystal." "Crystal is our big star," proclaimed Char Shinn, vice president of e-Business at First Technology Credit Union...

Technology News: Survey: Authentication Systems Top Priorities.
July 7, 2005... WASHINGTON -- The chief technology budget priority for credit unions this year is sophisticated new security identification solutions, according to Callahan & Associates' 2005 Credit Union Technology Survey. Callahan's reported that 95%...

An 'Enterprise Architect' Discusses His Evolving Role.
July 7, 2005... SEATTLE -- Scott Wolfe was nearly stripped of his title as Enterprise Architect at BECU. Wolfe said the $5-billion credit union went back and forth deciding whether to maintain the title of IT Enterprise Architect-the latest thing in IT...

LA Firemen's First To Offer Instant Opening, Funding.
July 7, 2005... PASADENA -- Los Angeles Firemen's CU is the first credit union to offer instant online account opening and funding capabilities via the CashEdge OpenNow FundNow solution. "We're light years ahead of where we were with our website's...

ITems.
July 7, 2005... APPRO, eLynx In Agreement BATON ROUGE, La-APPRO Systems, Inc., a provider of automated credit risk management and financial technologies, and Cincinnati-based eLynx Ltd., a provider of electronic document delivery solutions, said they have...

Two CUs Among Leaders In Exchanging Check Images.
July 8, 2005... VIENNA, Va. -- Credit unions here are keeping pace with the nation's pioneering big banks as they move to exchange check images, part of a process that would fully realize the promises of Check 21 in the next 10 years. "We're right up...

MCU Intro's Account-To-Account Transfers.
July 8, 2005... NEW YORK -- Municipal Credit Union (MCU) will introduce NYCE's Corp.'s new real- time, account-to-account (A2A) money transfer service to MCU's 300,000 members. MCU is the first financial institution to support NYCE A2A across multiple...

Teachers CU Big Player In City's Efforts.
July 8, 2005... SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- The $1.3-billion Teachers Credit Union here is playing a pivotal role in the development of a high-speed data network planned for this city. In fact, should the nonprofit operator of the planned network ever be...

Golden 1 Enhances Online Services.
July 8, 2005... SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The Golden 1 Credit Union has made enhancements to its online services through a new relationship with CheckFree Corp. Among those changes is offering its online bill-payment service free to members. Utilizing the...

ITems.
July 8, 2005... Summit Speeds Deployment CORVALLIS, Ore.-Summit Information Systems, a unit of Fiserv, Inc., has entered into an alliance with Integrated Media Management (IMM) to speed the deployment of advanced document workflow for credit unions. "By...

DI Update Cuts Spam, Phishing Attacks.
July 8, 2005... CALABASAS, Calif. -- Digital Insight Corp. said it has updated its Internet name servers with information to assist client financial institutions in the reduction of both Spam and phishing attacks. The technology Digital Insight has chosen...

IntegraSys Honored For Rebranding Effort.
July 8, 2005... FRISCO, Texas -- IntegraSys has been selected as one of the world's best rebrands in the first annual ReBrand 100 Awards. A rebrand is defined as the repositioning, revitalizing, restructuring or redesign of some or all of an existing...

Fiserv Adds Check Fraud Protection.
July 8, 2005... BROOKFIELD, Wis. -- Fiserv said it has added a new check fraud detection, FraudGuard Secure Seal Positive Pay, that will allow any size financial institution to offer check fraud services to its business customers. Fiserv recently...

Symitar Systems Adds Number of Clients.
July 8, 2005... SAN DIEGO, Calif. -- Symitar Systems reported that Virginia-based Apple FCU and California-based FAA First FCU have selected it to provide enterprise- wide automation. Both credit unions will be installing Episys in-house. Also moving to...

SAFCU, CU On-Line (28 CUs) Select XP.
July 8, 2005... MOORPARK, Calif. -- XP Systems, a business unit of Fiserv, Inc., said that its XP2 information management system has been selected by the $214-million Sperry Associates FCU in Garden City Park, N.Y. The choice of XP2 over its competitors...

OTS OK's CCU Conversion, Senators Pressuring NCUA.
July 11, 2005... WASHINGTON -- The Office of Thrift Supervision has certified Community Credit Union's membership vote to convert to a mutual bank charter, leaving NCUA as the sole holdout on the $1.4-billion CU's proposed conversion- and the pressure is on,...

Data Breaches Lead To Member Letters, Replacement Cards.(Letter to the Editor)
July 11, 2005... FORT WAYNE, Ind. -- Dozens of credit unions around the country have been working to identify member accounts that may be threatened from the huge security breach at CardSystems Solutions and many have started to recall and replace affected...

Born On The 4th Of July: Country's Heritage Evident In Names.
July 11, 2005... AMERICA -- There will be significant talk of "America" this week. And "American." And Liberty, Freedom, and Patriot. And those are just the credit union names. As America celebrates its birthday this July 4, it will do so with more...

Mich Study: Consumers Like CUs, But Think Banks Safer.
July 11, 2005... NORTHVILLE TOWNSHIP, Mich. -- Consumers think credit unions are better than banks in three areas - member service, low fees and loan rates. But a new study funded by the Michigan Credit Union Foundation has found that some consumers also...

On Deadline.
July 11, 2005... Delinquencies Up On HELC, Down On Cards WASHINGTON-Delinquencies on home equity loans rose during the first quarter. According to data released by the American Bankers Association (ABA), delinquencies on home equity loans rose to 2.43% in...

Leagues Express 'Extreme Concern' Over FTC Plan On Private Insurance.
July 11, 2005... RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif. -- The California and Nevada Credit Union Leagues have expressed "extreme concern" over proposals by the Federal Trade Commission on disclosures that privately insured credit unions must make to their members. ...

Danny Glover Has Praise For CDCUs' Work.
July 11, 2005... SAN FRANCISCO -- Actor Danny Glover addressed the annual meeting of the National Association of Community Development Credit Unions here, speaking on economic justice and the important work of community development credit unions. Glover...

NAFCU Withdraws From DLC Following Tax Proposal.
July 11, 2005... ARLINGTON, Va. -- NAFCU has withdrawn its membership in the Democratic Leadership Council. The move follows a proposal by the Progressive Policy Institute, which is closely aligned with the Democratic party, that the tax exemption for...

Worth Noting.
July 11, 2005... NACCU Seeking Nominations WASHINGTON-The National Association of Community Credit Unions is accepting nominations for its 2005 Community Credit Union of the Year award, which recognizes a community credit union that "exemplifies the...

Handouts, Hands Up, And A Hand To A Man In A River.
July 11, 2005... Orlando, Florida. Home to a fake Europe, a fake Middle East and a fake Africa, meaning no place fakes it quite like Orlando. But it was also home last week to a couple of credit union conferences at which some intriguing-and real-observations...

...But How Quickly Will It Move?
July 12, 2005... WASHINGTON -- Both CUNA and NAFCU continue to plug away at garnering support for regulatory relief efforts in general and the Credit Union Regulatory Improvement Act in particular, but CU lobbyists were split on how quickly credit unions will...

CUs Raise $500,000 For Ad Effort.
July 12, 2005... FEDERAL WAY, Wash. -- Washington's credit unions have now raised more than a half-million dollars toward a cooperative advertising campaign in this state. The Washington Credit Union League reported that 19 credit unions have made...

How An Examination Of Loan Denial Rates Changed One CU.
July 12, 2005... MADISON, Wis. -- Heritage Credit Union knew something was wrong with its 50% loan denial rate. But what it didn't know was that the journey it took to change that-which has since boosted the approval rate to 70%-would make such a big...

Member Stories Are Shared With Entire Staff.
July 12, 2005... Editor's Note: The following is a compilation of true lending stories from the loan officers of Heritage CU. HCU's Cindy Sutherland compiles these stories and then e-mails them out to the credit union's entire workforce to remind employees what...

Debate Over Charter Conversions On NASCUS Agenda.
July 12, 2005... ARLINGTON, Va. -- The controversial issue of credit union-to-bank charters will be front and center when NASCUS hosts its annual Conference & Symposium in Chicago in late August. The meeting will include the "Credit Union to Bank Charter...

Four CUs Re-Up With Synergent.
July 12, 2005... WESTBROOK, Maine -- Synergent, a subsidiary of the Maine Credit Union League, has signed four credit unions in the state to new technology services agreements: Bath-based Midcoast FCU (10 years); Winslow-based Taconnet FCU (10 years);...

OSI Acquires FDSI; Signs Western Sun FCU.
July 12, 2005... GLASTONBURY, Conn. -- Open Solutions Inc. has acquired California-based Financial Data Solutions, Inc. (FDSI) from Southwest Community Bancorp. FDSI provides image and remittance item processing, and image statement and rendering services....

ULTRADATA Clients Can Target Market.
July 12, 2005... CHICAGO -- Credit unions that use ULTRADATA for core processing can now drive individually targeted offers to members based on each member's unique use of their checking and credit card channels through the company's Ultra-Access online...

Credit Union 1 Selects USERS' DataSafe.
July 12, 2005... RANTOUL, Ill. -- The $402-million Credit Union 1 here has selected USERS' DataSafe solution as its new core processing system. The 100,000-member credit union will convert to USERS in April of 2006. The credit union said that the key...

Strategy With Members: Boosting Bill Pay Usage.
July 12, 2005... MADISON, Wis. -- Members here show a "strong" penchant for home banking, with 50% actively logging-on-leaving University of Wisconsin Credit Union to figure out why only 5% are taking advantage of bill pay. According to Eric Bangerter,...

Greylock Exchanges Cash Letter.
July 13, 2005... PITTSFIELD, Mass. -- Greylock FCU became the first credit union in the New England region last week to successfully exchange an outgoing image cash letter, known as FED Forward, with the Boston Federal Reserve, a key step in the complete...

Wisconsin CUL Backs Workshops.
July 13, 2005... PEWAUKEE, Wis. -- The Wisconsin CU League said it is financing three-week workshops in financial literacy this summer for area teachers to help them teach students about money matters. Almost 20 credit unions from around the state are...

Truliant Opens New HQ.
July 13, 2005... WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Truliant FCU officially has opened its new $19-million headquarters. The 120,000 square-foot offices, located about a mile from the old headquarters, will house 250 administrative, support and call center employees, and a...

Five Canadian CUs Merge.
July 13, 2005... PRINCE ALBERT, Saskatchewan -- Five area credit unions have agreed to combine to create one of Canada's biggest credit unions, with $2 billion in assets, 109,000 members and 51 branches. The rare five-way merger would marry Heartland CU, Prince...

Robber Caught Red-Handed.
July 13, 2005... SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- A would-be robber was captured a short while after he entered AAA FCU, asked for cash then grabbed a handful of money from the teller, setting off a dye-pack explosion hidden in the cash as he ran out to an assumed getaway...

Two CUs Install Compliance Commander.
July 13, 2005... RICHARDSON, Texas -- Two credit unions have installed Intrusion Inc.'s Compliance Commander, a real-time data privacy and regulatory compliance system that the company says can automatically detect the presence of any unencrypted non-public...

Tellers Sport Mortarboards, Wedding Veils To Market Gift Card Offer.
July 13, 2005... LANSING, Mich. -- Tellers at the $730-million State Employees Credit Union (SECU) have been wearing mortarboards and wedding veils to let members know that SECU offers themed designed gift cards for graduations, weddings, birthdays, and other...

Why Training Often Goes Wasted.
July 13, 2005... AUSTIN, Texas -- No matter how good the trainer, many training efforts go to waste without a "management commitment to a well-organized training culture," an organization can expect only negligible benefits, according to one expert. ...

What Some CCU Members Were Saying.
July 13, 2005... "We had what, 150 people at this meeting? We usually fill this room and it's standing room only at our annual meetings. This was nothing. This meeting was 'widely publicized' because NCUA required them to notify us three times. But this was all...

Texas League Board Reiterates Position, Outlines Steps Taken On Conversions.
July 13, 2005... DALLAS -- With two billion-dollar-plus credit unions in its state seeking to convert to savings banks, the Texas League's board has issued a statement saying it believes the position adopted by the league is proving to be the right one. The...

Johnson Says Congress Cannot Restrict NCUA Powers On Conversions.
July 14, 2005... WASHINGTON -- NCUA Chairman JoAnn Johnson followed up on criticisms lodged by members of Congress with a letter to a key lawmaker asking Congress to require that a credit union's net worth be distributed to members after conversion-similar...

House Approves Fix For Merger Accounting Rule.
July 14, 2005... WASHINGTON -- The House overwhelmingly approved a bill last week that would bypass an impending financial accounting rule and allow credit unions to continue "pooling," or combining, their net worth after mergers. The bill would redefine net...

Bill To Impose CRA On CUs Looms In Congress.
July 14, 2005... WASHINGTON -- The chances of Congress considering a Community Reinvestment Act- like requirement for credit unions has increased as the leading Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee almost ensured a debate on the issue. "We will...

Bankers Scrap With Real Estate Agents, This Time.
July 14, 2005... WASHINGTON -- In another ongoing turf war, the banking industry has stepped up its long-time dispute with real estate agents over the banks' efforts to carve out a greater share of the real estate services market. The American Bankers...

Group Seeks National Insurance Charter.
July 14, 2005... WASHINGTON -- Another powerful lobbying group, comprised of the biggest insurance companies in the nation, urged Congress last week to establish a federal regulatory scheme. The group of 135 insurers, including CUNA Mutual Group, sent a...

Ex-CU Raises $34M In Stock Offer.
July 14, 2005... ALBANY, N.Y. -- In a prelude to going public next week, Heritage Bank of the South, a mutual savings bank known until January 2001 as AGE FCU, raised almost $34 million with the sale of stock to depositors. The credit union-turned thrift...

Ad Touts 'Better Than My Bank'.
July 14, 2005... PHILADELPHIA -- Philadelphia FCU has rolled out the third phase of an in-your-face marketing campaign aimed at raising its profile. Using radio, billboards and wrapped buses and bus shelters, the latest ads are part of the...

Reg Relief Debate Goes To Senate.
July 14, 2005... WASHINGTON -- The Senate will formally begin the process of drafting a regulatory relief bill for credit unions and banks this week after a hearing before the Senate Banking Committee where regulators and trade associations will be invited...

CU Manager Reels In Trophy.
July 14, 2005... EDINA, Minn. -- Call it a consolation prize, if you will. Dean Wickstrom, the president of Real Financial Centers CU, won't be seeing the $50,000 reward offered for his role in the capture of the state's most prolific bank robber because...

Stanford FCU Offers ShareBuilder.
July 14, 2005... PALO ALTO, Calif. -- Stanford FCU has signed with ShareBuilder Securities Corp. To offer ShareBuilder's service to employees and members. Under the program, employees will receive an annual reward and both employees and members will...

CUJ Q&A.
July 15, 2005... PENSACOLA, Fla. -- Hurricane season officially begins in June, and after four major, named storms in 2004, Florida's credit unions won't be taking the threat lightly. Among the hardest hit was Pen Air FCU, with some management and board driven...

Coining An Idea: VyStar Puts Change To Work On Awareness.
July 15, 2005... JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- In a clever ploy to advertise the grand opening of its first downtown branch, VyStar Credit Union dropped $4,500 worth of half-dollars and quarters all over the city's sidewalks. Each coin included "mini billboards"...

Alaska CU Seeks To Leverage The Outdoors Indoors.
July 15, 2005... ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Alaska has the most land area of any state in the union, and the lowest population density at just one person per acre, making for a lot of "outdoors" here. It is not surprising, therefore, that Alaska USA Federal...

Community Page.
July 15, 2005... SECU Participates In Kids Day State Employees' CU, Raleigh, N.C. participated in Kids Day Penny Jar Championship to benefit the WakeMed Children's Center. Leominster CU Supports School STERLING, Mass.-Leominster CU partnered with a...

Ensweiler Has Praise (For NCUA) And Critics (For Comments).
July 15, 2005... DALLAS -- The man who has been taking some of the most heat over the proposed conversions of two Texas credit unions was thrilled to hear of NCUA's action voiding the disclosures statements, essentially sending both credit unions' conversion...