Banking Wire articles from June 2003

Banking Wire archives from June 2003

Good Intentions, Troubling Results: A CU That Sold What It Thought Were 'Cleaned' Hard Drives Discovers That's Not The Case-And That Related Rules Aren't Much Clearer.
June 2, 2003... A credit union whose member data was recovered from an old hard drive it had carefully wiped clean before being sold has a message for other financial institutions: "It happened to us, it could happen to you." The discovery of...

Used Machines, New Growth: Surrounded by Big Banks And Larger Credit Unions, Marine Federal Counters By Overhauling Its Strategy With ATMs.
June 2, 2003... Marine Federal Credit Union is the largest financial institution in this coastal community northeast of Wilmington-despite the presence of several national and regional banks and two substantial credit unions. According to two of Marine...

FCUs Get Expanded Investment Powers.
June 2, 2003... Federal credit unions were given new powers last week to invest in the broad commercial real estate market through commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS). The NCUA board approved amendments to its natural-person credit union...

Growth Of IRCs Could Derail Bill.
June 2, 2003... The proliferation of Industrial Loan Companies, which are enabling commercial entities to enter the banking business through the back door, is raising concerns on Capitol Hill, building a potential roadblock to the regulatory relief initiative...

New Threat To Calif. State Charters: UBIT.
June 2, 2003... State-chartered credit unions in the Golden State have found themselves facing a new threat from the unrelated business income tax-known as UBIT. The UBIT is an old bugaboo for state-chartered credit unions across the country that have...

ON DEADLINE.
June 2, 2003... Corporate America CU Takes Self Off Market IRONDALE, Ala.-The board of Corporate America CU has decided to take the $1.2-billion corporate off the market and voted down a proposal last month to merge it into Florida-based Southeast...

Bush Tax Cut Bill Would Also Boost Number of S-Corp Banks.
June 2, 2003... If the $350-billion tax bill passed by the Senate last week becomes law, the number of banks electing S-corporation status could almost double, to nearly 4,000, according to industry experts. An amendment to the bill would, among other...

NCUA Gives Raises, Bonues To Senior Staff.
June 2, 2003... The NCUA board has approved minimal pay raises, averaging 2.5%, the lowest in several years, for its top managers, according to data obtained by The Credit Union Journal under the Freedom of Information Act. As a result, the top...

In Oregon, CUs Get Public Deposits, But Bank-Backed Bill Dies.
June 2, 2003... Oregon's state House Business, Labor & Consumer Affairs Committee last week approved a bill that would allow CUs to accept deposits from public entities. Just as importantly to credit unions here, however, is what the committee did not do...

Worth Noting.
June 2, 2003... Dollar Into Mississippi Hall of Fame BILOXI, Miss.-NCUA Chairman Dennis Dollar has been inducted into the Mississippi CU Hall of Fame. Dollar was inducted during the Mississippi CU System's Annual Conference in Biloxi last week. Prior to...

The Point of The Vision Statement Is To See Things Clearly.
June 3, 2003... As mentioned before, business is simply a game-a game we play to win fairly and by the rules, but a game nonetheless. Given that, many great teams in sports over the years have had a key phrase to rally around. The Pittsburgh Steelers of...

Show Me State's CUs, Banks Get Literal With Dress Code.
June 3, 2003... This state's banks and credit unions have formally introduced a dress code for customers and members as a means of reducing the risk of robbery. The program is modeled on a similar effort in Massachusetts, and has been piloted among...

One Employer Continues To Hire: Nation's Credit Unions.
June 3, 2003... The credit union community continues to hire new workers. Callahan & Associates is reporting that postings to the Job Center on its www.creditunions.com site were up 54% in the first four months of 2003. The number of jobs listed on the...

CUNA Mutual's Kitchen Receives Ellis Island Honor.
June 3, 2003... CUNA Mutual CEO Michael B. Kitchen received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor during a ceremony here from the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations Foundation, Inc. (NECO). The award was created in 1986 to honor the many ancestral groups...

How To Comply With PATRIOT Act's New Customer ID Rules.
June 3, 2003... After months of anticipation, the U. S. Treasury Department issued final regulations implementing the Customer Identification Program (CIP) requirements of the USA PATRIOT Act on April 30. Credit unions across the nation must comply with these...

NACUSO Re-Elects Three To Its Board.
June 3, 2003... The National Association of CU Service Organizations (NACUSO) has re-elected three members to its board. Elected were John D. Unangst, CEO of Franklin Mint FCU & State Financial Network, Broomall, Penn.; Becky Nilsen, CEO of Desert...

Letters To The Editor.
June 3, 2003... Congratulations To The CU Journal Simply put, The Credit Union Journal has provided to our industry's leaders a candid, to-the-point and timely snapshot of the issues that are truly poignant to our industry's future positioning in the...

Duo With Inside Knowledge Help Boost Auto Loan Volume.
June 3, 2003... Kitsap Community Federal Credit Union is reporting it has booked $100 million in loans from automobile dealers in the past two years -due in large part to having hired people who understand the market. Two of the people behind Kitsap's...

CU Gets 2 Minutes On TV Each Week.
June 3, 2003... Despite all the razzing from staff, Betty Feierstein is not Hollywood-bound. The VP of mortgages at Landmark Credit Union said that her new role as television spokesperson for the CU's loan services just came with the territory. ...

Oklahoma League Forms Fund To Assist Tornado Victims.
June 3, 2003... The Oklahoma Credit Union Foundation (OCUF) has established a relief fund to assist credit union staff members who may be in need of shelter or assistance as a result of the string of tornadoes here. Jim Williams, president/CEO of Oklahoma...

Product & Service.
June 4, 2003... ACG Expands Its Facilities ALPHARETTA, Ga.-ACG ATM-Remarketers, a provider of custom refurbished Automated Teller Machines (ATMs), kiosks, parts, maintenance and training for credit unions, community banks and independent store operators,...

Sailing Team of CU, Vendor Execs Participates In Race.
June 4, 2003... A team composed of executives of credit unions and CU vendors raised more than $11,000 for the Children's Miracle Network by competing in the Newport to Ensenada (Mexico) Yacht Race. Jim Updike, CEO of Honda FCU, captained the yacht, and...

One Day Phone Effort Raises $166,000 For PACs.
June 4, 2003... Thirteen credit union CEOs and volunteers from California credit unions took to the phones and raised more than $166,000 for the California and Nevada Credit Union Leagues' federal and state political action committees during the leagues'...

CU Leasing Space To USPS For Store; Asset Growth Like 'Mr. Toad's Wild Ride'.
June 4, 2003... In an unusual twist, Pyramid Credit Union is leasing new branch space to the U.S. Postal Service for one of its retail stores. It seems only fair, considering it was employees of the Postal Service that gave the CU its life back in 1929,...

Hispanics Increasingly Turning To Debit.
June 4, 2003... Debit cards are being increasingly used by Hispanic-Americans consumers to replace cash and checks as the preferred payment method, according to a new study by MasterCard International. According to MasterCard's Hispanic Debit Cardholder...

Banks Find Educational Sessions For Small Businesses Pay Off For Everyone.
June 4, 2003... Even among successful small businesses, there are always those that cannot make their loan payments on time. The problem is that "they have a lot of money in receivables, but no money to pay their bills," according to Ken Buchele, the...

Concern For Illinois' Small CUs.
June 4, 2003... During the Illinois league's annual Legislative Day here members of the Governor's Board of Credit Union Advisors met with the league, along with the new acting director of the Department of Financial Institutions, Edgar Lopez. ...

Johnson Visits Lower East Side.
June 4, 2003... Seeking to raise the profile of low-income community development CUs and the role they play in their communities, NCUA Board Member JoAnn Johnson visited Lower East Side People's FCU (LESPFCU) here. Also on hand for the event were William...

Study: Small Biz, Big Opportunity.
June 4, 2003... Small business customers represent a wealth of cross-selling opportunities for credit unions, according to a recent research study by SYNERGISTICS RESEARCH. In a telephone survey during February 2003 of 600 small business owners and...

The CUJ Daily.
June 4, 2003... Troubled Mass. CU Acquired SPRINGFIELD, Mass.-NCUA said Western Massachusetts Telephone Workers CU has agreed to acquire the assets and member accounts of financially troubled D. Edward Wells FCU in a purchase and assumption assisted...

In Third Such Incident, Employee & Her Three Children Are Abducted As Part of CU Robbery.
June 5, 2003... An employee of the $20-million Whitehall Credit Union and her family-including three children ages 2, 4 and 6-were abducted at gunpoint from their home and then taken to the CU, where the employee was forced to give the perpetrators an...

Hard Lesson Learned About Hard Drives: One CU Adopts New Security Procedures.
June 5, 2003... Following the discovery that member data was still recoverable on a recycled hard drive, Power FCU has implemented a variety of protocols to beef up the security of its members' privacy As reported in the May 26 Credit Union Journal, the...

Deposit Rate Cuts Help Support ROA During 1st Quarter.
June 5, 2003... Credit unions continued to report near-record profitability during the first three months of the year in the face of a stagnant economy by slashing their cost of funds- their dividend (savings) rates-to all-time lows, according to NCUA. ...

State Budget Gap In Illinois Leads To Big Fee Increase.
June 5, 2003... A plan to close a $5-billion gap in the state budget being debated by the legislature last week would cost state-chartered credit unions an estimated $1.9 million in increased supervisory fees. The fee hike, amounting to a 50% rise, is...

ON DEADLINE.
June 5, 2003... NCUA: FCUs Exempt From Predator Laws ALEXANDRIA, Va.-NCUA said that federally chartered credit unions are exempt from a consumer protection statute passed by the Washington D.C., council aimed at battling predatory home lenders. In a...

NCUA OKs Corporates' Request.
June 5, 2003... NCUA's Office of Corporate Credit Unions (OCCU) issued a guidance letter last week that permits corporates to pay market gains upon early redemption of term deposits, according to CUNA and the Association of Corporate CUs (ACCU). ACCU had...

CUNA, Intelli-Check In Alliance.
June 5, 2003... CUNA has formed a strategic alliance with Intelli-Check Inc. to offer the company's ID-Check document verification devices to its affiliated credit unions. "This is a unique product that creates the ability for credit unions to do some...

NY CUs Part of Special Districts.
June 5, 2003... A bill that would permit New York's credit unions to participate in banking development districts unanimously passed the state Assembly. The Banking Development District Program provides property tax breaks to institutions that establish...

Deal Would Expand Remittances.
June 5, 2003... CUNA and the World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU) have entered into an agreement with Travelex to expand money remittance services. The new program will operate under the International Remittance Network (IRnet) name that WOCCU has built, and...

The Lone Star State No Longer Alone: Texas OKs HELCs.
June 5, 2003... The financial services lobby was able to navigate the turbulence surrounding the unprecedented walk-out of the Democratic caucus in the House to get a bill passed last week that would allow credit unions and banks to join lenders in the 49...

Would You Like Fries With That CU Membership?
June 6, 2003... If you feed them they will come. That motto seemed to be at the heart of a promotion by Orange County's Credit Union here, which reached out to select employee groups (SEGs) by offering a free lunch from popular burger chain In-N-Out. The lunch...

Survey Finds Online Members Don't Look To CU For Info.
June 6, 2003... More than 70% of online credit union members report using online information sources to research purchasing and financing automobiles. But only half said they thought of the credit union website as the first source of such information,...

Worth Noting.
June 6, 2003... CUNA Councils Publish 2 Papers MADISON, Wis.-Two of the CUNA Councils are offering new white papers. "Branch Evolution: Automation, Self- Service Strategies, Cross-Selling, and More," authored by Darla Dernovsek,is being made available by...

A Different Spin On Help Wanted Ads: Helping Yourself.
June 6, 2003... Your credit union is likely accustomed to advertising for help, but what about you? If you were interested in a CEO's job or, if you're already a CEO and are interested in managing a larger operation, would you consider advertising yourself?...

For 1 CEO, Trip Back To High School Not A Reunion.
June 6, 2003... Southeast Oakland Community Credit Union's Steven J. Scherr stood in front of a high school class and said, "Let's talk about saving money today." There were a few chuckles as one student blurted out, "I don't have that skill. I get paid...

Texas League's People Builders Includes A 'Meeting In A Box'.
June 6, 2003... Don't expect Jack to pop out of these boxes. Quite frankly, there's no room considering the meetings taking place inside. Go ahead, climb in. Better yet, let them out so you can share the information with your employees. TCUL People...

Liberty Reports CU Demand For Biz Checking.
June 6, 2003... Liberty has expanded its line of business check offerings in response to what the company said was demand from credit unions for more options to offer members who run their own businesses or prefer business-style products for their personal...

Product & Service.
June 6, 2003... WesCorp RUDE Tops $500M SAN DIMAS, Calif.-The $23-billion WesCorp is reporting that reserves and undivided earnings (RUDE) recently topped the $500-million threshold. The corporate said the amount is significant because WesCorp pays the...

Survey Finds Growing Interest In Debit At Checks' Expense.
June 6, 2003... A survey of more than 11,000 consumers has found growing interest in making small-value purchases via debit card. The survey, sponsored by Star Systems, Inc., revealed that the most popular type of small value (under $25) debit purchase...

ATM-Users Say They Would Welcome Biometric Efforts.
June 6, 2003... A majority of regular ATM users say they believe the usage of biometric identification at the machines would be a welcome improvement over the current PIN-based ID method. Most popular among those surveyed: Handprint or fingerprint scans....

A 'Perfect Storm' May Be Brewing On Privacy Laws.
June 9, 2003... A major confrontation is brewing on Capitol Hill over renewal of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, known in the financial services industry by its acronym, FCRA. The confrontation pits those who want to see reauthorization of the law in...

CUNA PAC Builds Cash, Makes Some Donations.
June 9, 2003... CUNA said its political action committee, one of the most active in Washington, raised $86,443 last month and spent just $46,770, helping to rebuild its cash reserves to $235,647 at the end of the month. The biggest contributions went to:...

11 More Mergers For CUs Of $5M In Assets Or Less.
June 9, 2003... NCUA approved another 11 mergers last month involving credit unions of $5 million or less, making a total of 54 small credit unions that have disappeared through mergers so far this year. There were 186 small credit unions merged out of...

11 FCUs Move To State; Five SCUs Move To Federal.
June 9, 2003... NCUA said it approved two conversions to state charters last month, making a total of 11 so far this year. Last month's conversions included: Service Plus FCU, Riverside, Calif. ($65 million) and HTM Area FCU, Troy, Ohio ($6 million). ...

Freddie Mac Warns Of New Interest-Rate Risks.
June 9, 2003... Credit unions and other community-based mortgage lenders hold roughly $300 billion in loans that could be at risk if interest rates tick up by as little as 25 to 50 basis points, Freddie Mac warned Last week. David Stevens, senior vice...

People.
June 9, 2003... ENCORE Cooperative, Falls Church, Va., elected to ENCORE Branch Service Corporation' board: Robert McClosky, chair; Robert Hess, vice chair; Lindsay Alexander, secretary; Thomas Reed, treasurer; Douglas Allman, Larry Buel, Timothy Elmore,...

Community Page.
June 9, 2003... STCU Recycles Old Cell Phones SPOKANE, Wash.-Spokane Teachers Credit Union is collecting old cellular phones, and shipping them to a reseller to benefit the Children's Miracle Network. In additional news, STCU held a teen financial...

ON DEADLINE.
June 9, 2003... CU Tax Bill Possible In Alabama BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -A bill that would remove tax deductions and credits on excise taxes for credit unions was among those being considered by the Alabama legislature last week after Gov. Bob Riley called a...

Next Test In Hispanic Market: The PR Game.
June 9, 2003... Credit unions have made major contributions in reaching out to the Hispanic market, but more progress can be made, particularly in getting the same amount of public recognition as banking giants such as Bank of America and Wells Fargo Bank,...

Missouri CU Assn. To Rebate $260,000.
June 9, 2003... The Missouri Credit Union Association is rebating to its member credit unions $260,000 for their use of fee-supported services in 2002. The amount is $85,000 more than the patronage rebate MCUA provided in 2001. The rebate stems from what...

Would You Like Fries With That CU Membership?
June 10, 2003... If you feed them they will come. That motto seemed to be at the heart of a promotion by Orange County's Credit Union here, which reached out to select employee groups (SEGs) by offering a free lunch from popular burger chain In-N-Out. The...

Survey Finds Online Members Don't Look To CU For Info.
June 10, 2003... More than 70% of online credit union members report using online information sources to research purchasing and financing automobiles. But only half said they thought of the credit union website as the first source of such information,...

Worth Noting.
June 10, 2003... CUNA Councils Publish 2 Papers MADISON, Wis.-Two of the CUNA Councils are offering new white papers. "Branch Evolution: Automation, Self- Service Strategies, Cross-Selling, and More," authored by Darla Dernovsek,is being made available by...

A Different Spin On Help Wanted Ads: Helping Yourself.
June 10, 2003... Your credit union is likely accustomed to advertising for help, but what about you? If you were interested in a CEO's job or, if you're already a CEO and are interested in managing a larger operation, would you consider advertising yourself?...

For 1 CEO, Trip Back To High School Not A Reunion.
June 10, 2003... Southeast Oakland Community Credit Union's Steven J. Scherr stood in front of a high school class and said, "Let's talk about saving money today." There were a few chuckles as one student blurted out, "I don't have that skill. I get...

Texas League's People Builders Includes A 'Meeting In A Box'.
June 10, 2003... Don't expect Jack to pop out of these boxes. Quite frankly, there's no room considering the meetings taking place inside. Go ahead, climb in. Better yet, let them out so you can share the information with your employees. TCUL People...

Liberty Reports CU Demand For Biz Checking.
June 10, 2003... Liberty has expanded its line of business check offerings in response to what the company said was demand from credit unions for more options to offer members who run their own businesses or prefer business-style products for their personal...

Product & Service.
June 10, 2003... WesCorp RUDE Tops $500M SAN DIMAS, Calif.-The $23-billion WesCorp is reporting that reserves and undivided earnings (RUDE) recently topped the $500-million threshold. The corporate said the amount is significant because WesCorp pays the...

Survey Finds Growing Interest In Debit At Checks' Expense.
June 10, 2003... A survey of more than 11,000 consumers has found growing interest in making small-value purchases via debit card. The survey, sponsored by Star Systems, Inc., revealed that the most popular type of small value (under $25) debit purchase...

ATM-Users Say They Would Welcome Biometric Efforts.
June 10, 2003... A majority of regular ATM users say they believe the usage of biometric identification at the machines would be a welcome improvement over the current PIN-based ID method. Most popular among those surveyed: Handprint or fingerprint scans....

AmeriCU Cites Benefits Of Direct Check Ordering.
June 11, 2003... Since moving to a program in which its members work directly with Deluxe to select check designs, AmeriCU here said it has been able to directly measure results related to the check program management. The credit union has adopted...

Product & Service.
June 11, 2003... United Nations FCU Joins CO-OP NEW YORK-The $1.7-billion United Nations Federal Credit Union (UNFCU) has joined the CO-OP Network, which will offer its members access to 17,000 surcharge-free ATMs across the United States and Canada as...

Senate Move On Reg Relief Should Be A Good Sign.
June 11, 2003... The Senate signaled its intentions last week to begin the process of crafting a regulatory relief bill with a solicitation to NCUA and the banking regulators for their recommendations on what should be included in such a package. This...

Deductibility of Mortgage Insurance Is Dropped.
June 11, 2003... A provision that would have made mortgage insurance premiums tax deductible was eliminated in the last hours from the congressional tax bill quickly signed into law by the President over the Memorial Day holiday. The provision would have...

Supreme Court Deals Blow To ATM Surcharge Bans.
June 11, 2003... Local bans on ATM surcharges suffered what appears to be a fatal blow last week when the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal of two lower court decisions repealing the bans. San Francisco and Santa Monica, Calif., in 1999 passed...

People.
June 11, 2003... Kitsap Community Federal Credit Union, Bremerton, Wash., named Leslie Mossbarger employee of the quarter. Central Florida Educators' Federal Credit Union, Orlando, Fla., named Gale Hall employee of the month of January, and Scott...

Revolving Door Swings At Senate CU.
June 11, 2003... The turmoil continued at U.S. Senate FCU, with the new manager Ron Thomas walking out after just three weeks on the job, setting the stage for the credit union's fourth manager in the past three years. Thomas, who ran Polish & Slavic FCU...

Reading The Cards: Many Institutions That Issue Debit Cards Are Chafing At Lawsuit Settlement By Visa, MasterCard.
June 11, 2003... Though Visa U.S.A. and MasterCard have tried to depict their decisions to settle in the Wal-Mart lawsuit as having bank members' support, there are signs that many- particuarly those that issue debit cards only-are chafing about the terms as...

Study of New Americans Suggests CUs Segment Market In Order To Capture It.
June 11, 2003... The more than 33-million immigrants who are classified as "New Americans are having as much of an effect on their financial institutions as their financial institutions can have on them, according to a new study. "The impact of...

Community Page.
June 11, 2003... TruWest Attends Country Festival SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.-TruWest Credit Union had a booth at the Country Thunder- USA festival, where it signed up new members from the 150,000 people who attended the four day concert. In additional news, the...

Impressions From Pre-Internet Days To What Lies Ahead For CUs (And the World) Tomorrow.
June 12, 2003... Soon after the Mosaic Web browser came out, I attended a seminar about it. At the end, about half the attendees said, "They must be crazy. There is no practical use for this thing." How wrong they were. The Internet allowed exchange of...

Time For CUs To Investigate Creation Of A Digital Support Channel.
June 12, 2003... Web technologies clearly have the potential to create a powerful support channel for members and staff. Imagine a system where members and staff (end-users) using only a web browser could quickly find information from a central source, some of...

When Have You Effectively Implemented Technology? When You No Longer See It.
June 12, 2003... A decade ago in Scientific American, Mark Weiser of Xerox Corp. wrote, "The most profound technologies are those that disappear. They weave themselves into the fabric of everyday life until they are indistinguishable from it." The...

Looking For A Low-Budget Way To Avoid Potentially Big-Budget IT Problems?
June 12, 2003... Take Advantage of The Credit Union Journal's Panel of Technology Experts. Send Your Question To Editor Frank J. Diekmann at fdiekmanncujournal.com. Questions Are Anonymous, And Are Responded To By The Nearly Three-Dozen Tech Experts The...