Banking Wire articles from March 2005

Banking Wire archives from March 2005

'Nice' Management Often Mistaken For 'Good' Management.
March 1, 2005... It's time to challenge the assumption that nice equals good. Many years ago, when I was in management, I had an employee confront me in my office at the end of the day. He accused me of not being nice. He told me that I was unfair because I...

Why 1 CU Opted To Offer 100% Med Coverage.
March 1, 2005... LOMPOC, Calif. -- The high cost of medical insurance has caused many American companies to scale back on benefits they offer to employees, but one CU decided to veer in the opposite direction. CoastHills Federal Credit Union recently told...

Sinkhole Swallowing Parking Lot (And CU's Good Name).
March 1, 2005... ST. JOSEPH, Mo. -- The mere mention of the collapsed drain pipe in a parking lot shared by 1st CU and US Bank leaves Julie Green with a sinking feeling. Not only will the $20-million CU split the repair costs of more than $500,000 for a...

Product & Service.
March 1, 2005... First Lenders In Alliance USTIN, Texas-First Lenders Data, Inc., a provider of technology, data and bundled services provider has formed an alliance to provide bundled financial services to financial institutions with Portland, Ore.-based...

Program Allows Staff To Donate Time To Charities.
March 1, 2005... EUGENE, Ore. -- For many charitable and non-profit organizations, the gift of time is more precious than money. Oregon Community Credit Union recently rolled out a program to allow its employees to donate their time during normal business...

NAFCU Seeking Nominations.
March 1, 2005... ARLINGTON, Va. -- NAFCU is accepting entires for its 2005 Annual Awards Competition, Marketing Awards and Grassroots Activism Awards. Annual awards include FCU of the Year, Professional of the Year and Volunteer of the Year. Marketing...

BofA Eliminates Transfer Fees; CUs Expect To Retain Share.
March 1, 2005... MADISON, Wis. -- Bank of America's move to eliminate fees on money transfers to Mexico from the United States won't likely erode credit unions' share of the market, credit union officials said. U.S. transmitters such as Western Union,...

Product & Service.
March 1, 2005... CashEdge Intros Two Products NEW YORK CITY-CashEdge, Inc., a provider of online financial applications, has introduced two new products, OpenNow and FundNow. Implemented together, the products deliver an end-to-end, single-session online...

PE TeacherGets A Lesson In Becoming Millionaire As CCU Makes Point.
March 1, 2005... PLANO, Texas -- Community CU has taken the concept of helping members build wealth to a whole level by helping turn a physical education teacher into a millionaire. The CU's "Make A Million" sweepstakes was designed to help market CCU's...

Bill On Check Clearing Has Surprising Support.
March 1, 2005... WASHINGTON -- In what promises to be a major financial services issue in the 109th Congress, a leading Democratic lawmaker introduced a bill last week that would require credit unions and banks to share the advantages of faster check clearing...

Dealing With Falling ROA: As Credit Unions Head To The Nation's Capital That Are On The Minds.
March 2, 2005... WASHINGTON -- Lower returns on loans and investments continued to put pressure on credit unions' bottom lines last year and pushed profitability for the average credit union down to just 0.92% (92 basis points)-a 20-year-low. Experts are...

PCA Changes Proposed: Capital, It's Other Issues Related To Of Many Credit Union CEOs.
March 2, 2005... ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- NCUA last week formally announced long-awaited changes to net worth standards under prompt corrective action (PCA). Among the proposed changes, which were first proposed by former NCUA Chairman Dennis Dollar and are now...

Bankruptcy Reform Down To The Numbers.
March 2, 2005... WASHINGTON -- For long-time followers of the bankruptcy reform bill the eight-year journey may now be reduced to a few numbers. Like 51. And 60. Or 5. Those are the numbers to watch as the controversial bill goes to the floor of the...

Utah Legislature Sends Anti-CU Resolution.
March 2, 2005... SALT LAKE CITY -- This state's legislature expressed its frustration last week at its failed efforts to tax credit unions and asked Congress to step into the fray. In a non-binding resolution sent to Washington, the legislature asked...

Another Texas Billion- Dollar CU Seeking To Convert To Bank.
March 2, 2005... FORT WORTH, Texas -- A second Texas credit union giant joined those seeking exodus from the credit union charter last week-OmniAmerican CU. The $1.4-billion credit union, the state's fifth largest, filed with state and federal regulators...

Inside This Issue.
March 2, 2005... This issue of The Credit Union Journal has been organized into several sections in order to help readers stay on top of coverage. Moreover, a special synopsis of coverage in the issue appears on page 4. For coverage of events in the news ...

Regulators Offer Bounce Protection Plan Guidelines.
March 2, 2005... WASHINGTON -- Responding to pleas by consumer groups, NCUA and other federal regulators approved new guidelines last week on bounce protection programs, also known as overdraft protection. The guidelines call on credit unions and banks to...

Banker's Lament: CU Forces Bank To Pay Higher Rates.
March 2, 2005... SALT LAKE CITY -- A Utah bank said it has been forced to pay customers higher rates on deposits due to competition from local credit unions. Harris Simmons, chairman and CEO of Zions Bank who is a strong credit union critic and...

Worth Noting.
March 2, 2005... Celine Dion At NAFCU Meeting WASHINGTON-NAFCU's 38th Annual Conference and Exhibition, July 13-16 at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, will be living up to its theme of "Raising the Stakes" by featuring Celine Dion's "A New...

There's A Dangerous Pest Lurking About The Grassroots.
March 2, 2005... There's a problem lurking unseen for credit unions: chinch bugs. This week when thousands of credit unions descend upon Washington for CUNA's annual Governmental Affairs Conference, you won't be able to go five minutes without hearing...

Sponsors Helping Small Cal., Nev. CUs Attend GAC.
March 3, 2005... RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif. -- The California and Nevada Credit Union Leagues will be sending approximately 250 representatives to CUNA's Government Affairs Conference in Washington this week. An official for the California league said, like a...

CUs To Deliver 660,000 Signatures To Reps This Week.
March 3, 2005... WASHINGTON -- CUNA is expecting to deliver more than 660,000 signatures on petitions supporting the credit union tax-exemption to members of Congress when it hosts its annual Governmental Affairs Conference (GAC) this week. More than...

Product & Service.
March 3, 2005... FSCC Adds 209 Branches In 2004 SAN DIMAS, Calif.-Financial Service Centers Cooperative, Inc. (FSCC) International Shared Branching Network announced its year-end sales results with a record number of credit unions opening on the network....

TIP Charter Is Starting To Take Hold As Basis For FOM.
March 3, 2005... ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- The TIP charters introduced by NCUA in 2003 began to take hold last year, with 10 federal credit unions opting for the broader field of membership that covers entire trades, industries and professions, and several states...

Underserved Communities The New Focus In Community Charter Plans.
March 3, 2005... ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- Much of the action in expanding field of membership shifted last year from community charter conversions or expansions to the addition of broad swaths of population through NCUA's underserved FOM program. In fact, NCUA...

Credit Unions In 300 Mergers During 2004.
March 3, 2005... ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- NCUA approved 70 mergers in the final two months of 2004, making a total of 300 credit union marriages for the year. The 300 mergers was down slightly from the 317 mergers approved in 2003, but about the average for the...

FYI on FOMs.
March 3, 2005... PITTSBURGH -- St. Basil's Parish Credit Union has a new charter and a new name. Approved by the state to serve the specific neighborhoods in the city of Pittsburgh, the credit union has changed its name to Basil Community Credit Union. ...

CUNA Subject Of Phishing Attack.
March 3, 2005... MADISON, Wis. -- The latest group to be subjected to an online phishing attack? CUNA. The trade group said it discovered that someone had sent credit union members an e-mail claiming to be from CUNA and seeking member account information and...

NCUF Helps Raise $170,000.
March 3, 2005... MADISON, Wis. -- The National Credit Union Foundation (NCUF) said that close to $170,000 has been raised in support of efforts being undertaken by the World Council of Credit Unions to assist victims of the Asian tsumani. The NCUF's...

TULIP CU Ahead Of Projections.
March 3, 2005... OLYMPIA, Wash. -- One year after opening its doors as the first CU chartered in this state in 10 years, TULIP Credit Union said it is ahead of membership projections. The credit union, whose name is an acronym for Thurston Union of Low...

65 CUs Sold Portfolios During 04.
March 4, 2005... PORTLAND, Ore. -- According to analysis by AssetExchange, a credit card portfolio brokerage firm, here are some credit union credit card portfolio trends for year-end 2004. For the roughly 2,200 credit unions with credit card portfolios...

Register For Journal Conference.
March 4, 2005... Get more info on The Credit Union Journal's upcoming Business Development Conference, March 31-April 1 at the Renaissance Hotel Seaworld in Orlando, by visiting www.cujournal.com. Copyright 2005 Thomson Media Inc. All Rights Reserved....

Four Colorado CUs Explore Benefits Of Being One.
March 4, 2005... BOULDER, Colo. -- Four northern Colorado credit unions are in the "preliminary" stages of a possible merger, according to spokespersons for the credit unions. If the plan succeeds, it will create a $638-million credit union. Tom...

If Approved, Merger Will Create $1B Wash. CU.
March 4, 2005... OLYMPIA, Wash. -- Two credit unions from the "South Sound" region south of Seattle said they will merge to form the third-largest CU in Washington state. According to Harborstone Credit Union and Twin County CU, if the deal is approved by...

NEWS.
March 4, 2005... INSIDE THIS SECTION * Six credit unions in two states discuss whey they feel they must pursue mergers. -Page 13 * Founders FCU shares how it made the most of the "Spanish Revolution" in his community by reaching out to the Spanish...

One S.C. CU's Response To 'Spanish Revolution'.
March 4, 2005... ORLANDO, Fla. -- The Southern U.S. has changed in more ways than just evolving into red states from blue states. In many ways, the South has the feel of other flag colors altogether. Bruce Blumfield, CEO of the $1.2-billion Founders FCU,...

Growth Stems From Chance Discovery Of Immigrants.
March 4, 2005... ORLANDO, Fla. -- It took a trip overseas for one CEO to find foreigners in need of help closer to home. R. Marshall Boutwell, CEO of the $84-million in Gwinnett FCU in Lawrenceville, Ga., had returned home from a trip to Poland with the...

Parcels From PALS.
March 4, 2005... ORLANDO, Fla. -- Here are some of the other news, views, and quotables from the PALS conference recently hosted here. Why Aren't More People Joining? * NCUA Board Member Debbie Matz, who along with Executive Board Assistant Steve...

Expansion Plan Includes 'Advisory Council'.
March 4, 2005... ORLANDO, Fla. -- Andrews Federal Credit Union has a slightly different approach in deciding where it will expand: it seeks "communities that we believe in." To that end the Suitland, Md.-based credit union is expanding into Washington,...

CUJ Q&A.
March 4, 2005... Andrews FCU takes member feedback so seriously it has taken a senior-level executive and made him 'Member Advocate' who tracks member satisfaction. SUITLAND, Md.-Andrews FCU has created a Member Advocate whose sole purpose is to track...

The Steps Taken By 1 Louisiana CU To Make Its Expansion Work.
March 7, 2005... ORLANDO, Fla. -- When Jeff Hendrickson was hired as CEO of Dow Louisiana FCU in Plaquemine, Louisiana years ago, one of the first things he said he did was meet with the board about what was happening with the credit union's membership and...

N.Y.'s Banks, CUs Team Up On Plan To Help Poor.
March 7, 2005... NEW YORK -- Banks and credit unions here are joining forces to take part in a state-sponsored program to get 800,000 poor New Yorkers to open deposit accounts. "There are a lot of people who think banks cannot serve their needs, that...

Johnson 'Wishes' For CURIA During WesCorp Summit.
March 7, 2005... SAN DIMAS, Calif. -- The California Credit Union League and WesCorp co-hosted the "2005 Credit Union Summit" at WesCorp's headquarters here last week. JoAnn Johnson, chairman of the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), and U.S....

Worth Noting.
March 7, 2005... NCUF Seats New Board Members WASHINGTON-The 2005 Board of Directors of the National Credit Union Foundation has been seated. New are Hubert H. Hoosman, Jr., CEO of Vantage Credit Union in Missouri and Gary Oakland, CEO of BECU in...

Numbers Show Declining Market Growth.
March 7, 2005... CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- Credit unions have been a constant target of tough competition from other regulated depositories, and nothing makes that clearer than the declining market growth over the last few years. According to SNL...

Utah Bankers See Positives In Anti-CU Resolution.
March 7, 2005... SALT LAKE CITY -- Utah bankers acknowledge there is little chance Congress will act on the non-binding anti-credit union resolution the state legislature sent to Washington last week, but they see it as a start of a national debate on the...

Not Content With Growth, CULAC Has Big Goals.
March 7, 2005... WASHINGTON -- Among the priorities cited by CUNA's political team for the 109th Congress is to continue building the association's political action committee, which has become one of the most powerful on Capitol Hill. Political director...

Senators' Illnesses Could Have Effect On CU Bills.
March 7, 2005... WASHINGTON -- In an unusual confluence of illnesses, two senators are currently being treatment for different forms of cancer: Pennsylvania's Arlen Specter for Hodgkin's Disease, and Idaho's Michael Crapo for prostate cancer. While both...

Making A FEDERAL CASE Out of It: CU Reps Will Flock To Lobby Their Federal Reps This Week, But Few Know About The Fight To Pass A Federal Credit Union Act In The First Place.
March 7, 2005... WASHINGTON -- America's credit unions have long offered an antidote to their members' personal financial challenges. But there also was a time when that same emphasis on thrift, individual responsibility and economic self-sufficiency provided...

Politics.
March 7, 2005... INSIDE THIS SECTION * Getting the Federal Credit Union Act passed, the law that started it all, was no easy feat -Page 23 * How a Sunday School teacher and his father helped lead Jim Moore to become involved as a CU volunteer ...

'When You Have What You Need, You Need To Share it'.
March 8, 2005... BATON ROUGE, La. -- Sometimes it takes just one person to make a difference in someone else's life, and in turn set off a chain reaction of good service. For Jim Moore, that one person was a Sunday school teacher he had years and years...

Observations About Government.
March 8, 2005... A government which robs Peter to pay paul can always depend on the support of Paul. -George Bernard Shaw Bureaucrats are the only people in the world who can say absolutely nothing and mean it. -Hugh Sidey The road to democracy...

The Volunteer HILL HIKERS.
March 8, 2005... Beginning On This Page The Credit Union Journal Profiles Credit Union Volunteers Nominated By Their Respective States For Their Dedication To Lobbying Their State And Federal Representatives Copyright 2005 Thomson Media Inc. All...

A Life-Long Educator Has Advice For Educating Elected Representatives.
March 8, 2005... MEMPHIS -- Fred Johnson, Ph.D. has dedicated his life to educating others, but all the teaching hasn't been limited to the traditional classroom. Johnson has been educating legislators in Washington and Tennessee for years on the issues...

Lessons From 50+ Years Of Calling On Politicians.
March 8, 2005... LONG BEACH, Calif. -- In the summer of 1998, hundreds of people tirelessly worked thousands of hours to bring about the passage of a bill known as HR 1151 - officially the Credit Union Membership Access Act. Herman Alevy, a longtime lobbyist...

Life In Politics Began With Old-Time Clubhouses.
March 8, 2005... NEW YORK -- Shirley Jenkins got involved with politics at the young age of 14. It was back when political clubs dominated the democratic process, and local clubhouses were the source of political information for individual neighborhoods. Each...

Product & Service.
March 8, 2005... Two CUs Pick myCUmortgage.com MIDDLETOWN, Ohio-Middletown Area Schools CU, Brewster FCU and Credit Union of Ohio have all entered into a mortgage partnership with myCUmortgage. MyCUmortgage is CUSO owned by Wright-Patt Credit Union,...

Ky. Board Member Knows Politics From Both Sides.
March 8, 2005... ASHLAND, Ky. -- It is often said that who you know is just as important as what you know. Johnny Abbot knows countless politicians, and that's what he brought to the table when he was elected to the board at the $98-million Members Choice...

An Immigrant Learns Quickly How U.S. Government Works.
March 8, 2005... WILMINGTON, Del. -- Marie Davis came to America as an immigrant from Scotland in the 1960s. She had no idea what a credit union was. "I found myself in need of a car with very little money, and I went to a bank. They told me to come back...

Product & Service.
March 8, 2005... Better WorkGroups Makes Debut SAN FRANCISCO-Better Branches has released Better WorkGroups, a module-based software application that uses an innovative approach to standardizing and improving work processes, according to the company....

Volunteer Gets Money In Budget For DC Advocacy.
March 9, 2005... TAMPA, Fla. -- When Annette Barwick joined the board of Suncoast Schools FCU, very few of the volunteers made the trek to Washington, D.C. to attend CUNA's GAC and be part of the national Hike The Hill day that marks the annual conference. All...

Product & Service.
March 9, 2005... Georgia Central Is Rated Highly DULUTH, Ga.-Georgia Central Credit Union said its annual member satisfaction survey found members highly satisfied. Using a one-to-seven scale, Georgia Central received an average of 6.35 for competence and...

Volunteer Involved In Politics At (Very) Grassroots Level.
March 9, 2005... SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- What do an auctioneer, a credit union volunteer, a state legislator, and a real estate appraiser have in common? In this particular instance, they are all trades that Wally Myers has dabbled in at one time or another,...

Product & Service.
March 9, 2005... Addison Avenue Plans To CUDL PALO ALTO, Calif.-The $1.8-billion Addison Avenue FCU has partnered with CU Direct Connect on auto lending in Colorado, where it has five branches. In its first month, AAFCU said it did $1 million in loans. CU...

The Coffee Break Reader Challenge!
March 9, 2005... Readers Offer Their Responses To Congressman's Demand The Credit Union Journal presented readers with this scenario: You're meeting with your congressman. You've talked about the benefits of the credit union to his constituents. The...

Report From The States.
March 9, 2005... WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- While credit union leagues and trade associations-and even individuals CUs, themselves-are mor apt to use professional lobbyists, one of the great strengths of the credit union movement has been in its truly grassroots...

In Indication of Growth, Bankers In Poland, Russia Oppose CU Expansion.
March 9, 2005... WARSAW, Poland -- In a sign that two relatively new credit union movements in two former communist countries are growing, their respective banking industries are on the attack. In Poland, banks have launched legislative efforts seeking to...

Rising From The DUST BOWL: From The Great Depression To Great Success, Jim Likens' Family Story Is An American Saga,.
March 9, 2005... LOS ANGELES -- Jim Likens has changed his mind about exactly when his life story began. Likens used to imagine it began when he graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with a B.A. in Economics and an M.B.A. in Management (he...

Sustainable & SELF-RELIANT: Cliff Rosenthal Pioneered Efforts To Build Low-Income CUs, Including Some Low-Income Times For Himself.
March 9, 2005... NEW YORK -- Cliff Rosenthal is an honest-to-goodness example of the principle of teaching someone to fish rather than giving them a fish dinner. He's been toiling at the cooperative effort for 35 years, 25 of them at the National...

Knowing The Value OF A DOLLAR: An Ex-Regulator Being Honored By The Regulated? Yes, In The Case of Dennis Dollar.
March 9, 2005... BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- "I'm a credit union true believer," says Dennis Dollar, the odds-on favorite for the most popular former NCUA Chairman in recent history. Admittedly, the field is narrow and contrast strong, given that he succeeded Norman...

Consumer Debt Continued To Rise During 04.
March 10, 2005... NORTH PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Bankrate.com said that all types of consumer debt continue to rise and were up 4% during 2004. The Federal Reserve said that total non- mortgage consumer debt among Americans is now approximately $2.1 trillion. For...

CUNA Mutual Exec Testifies At Statehouse.
March 10, 2005... FEDERAL WAY, Wash. -- At the invitation of the Washington State Senate, CUNA Mutual Group testified before the Financial Institutions, Housing & Consumer Protection Committee on the issue of consumer protection, identity theft and the...

53-Million U.S. Adults Now Bank Online.
March 10, 2005... WASHINGTON -- Almost 53 million U.S. adults now bank online, an increase of 47% during the past two years, according to a new survey by the Pew Internet & American Life. In fact, online banking is the fastest-growing Internet activity, Pew...

NCUA Issues New Prohibition Orders.
March 10, 2005... ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- NCUA has issued orders prohibiting each of the following individuals from participating in any manner in the affairs of federally insured financial institutions. * Brenda Lee Busico, aka Brenda Lee Hunsaker, aka Brenda...

Study: Banks Expect To Hire More Staff.
March 10, 2005... CHICAGO -- Grant Thornton's 12th Annual Survey of Community Bank Executives has found that bankers once again anticipate increasing the number of employees in the coming year, with 51% planning on increasing employee headcount in 2005. ...

GTE FCU Moves Into New Headquarters.
March 10, 2005... TAMPA, Fla. -- GTE Federal Credit Union has held a grand opening of its new Tampa Heights headquarters. The new headquarters is a 12.5-acre campus designed to serve as a hub for the credit union's operations. The building complex is part of...

MasterCard Alters Card Aimed At Affluent.
March 10, 2005... PURCHASE, N.Y. -- MasterCard has made changes to its World MasterCard card program aimed at affluent, U.S.-based consumers with household incomes of $100,000 annually or more. The changes are aimed at allowing the 10 major issuers of the...

FDIC Meeting A Regular Miracle On 34th Street.
March 10, 2005... Well, finally heard back from the FDIC! The official letter of response was a tour de force of precision and clarity. No room was left for doubt nor argument. The logic was crisp and well-reasoned; the legal opinion definitive; even the...

Voices.
March 10, 2005... INSIDE THIS SECTION * Amazing news from the FDIC about credit unions -Jim Blaine, page 53 * Reaxaming "value" of bank, CU relationships -Tom Reed, page 54 * The Top 10 issues credit unions need to keep in mind when in...

Are Credit Unions Selling Themselves Short In Deals With Banks?
March 10, 2005... In the land where number-crunchers rule and where pragmatism trumps philosophy, the relationships that credit unions develop with banks that buy their credit card portfolios is said to be a "win-win" situation. It "makes good business sense,"...

Will Power Is Not Enough.
March 11, 2005... How much have your wealthy clients set aside for their heirs? Probably less than they thought: A recent study by the Spectrem Group identifies a woeful lack of wealth-transfer preparation in many of this group's financial plans. While it may be...

Annuity Sales Forecast Cloudy for 2005.
March 11, 2005... The past few years have been less-than-kind to annuities sales, and while the tail end of 2004 suggested the battered variable annuity space might be reviving, bank reps' steady staple of fixed annuities appears likely to face a more...

Be Wary of Hedge Funds, Experts Warn.
March 11, 2005... Hedge funds may be a hot topic to advisers, but few in the bank channel currently use them in their asset allocations. The funds remain problematic due to the unconventional way they operate, panelists said at a January conference sponsored by...

Product News.
March 11, 2005... AIG SunAmerica Retirement Markets has launched a group of four annuity-based investment options called the Managed Allocation Portfolios. These funds-of-funds are available through the Seasons variable annuity, and are composed of the company's...