Banking Wire articles from September 2003

Banking Wire archives from September 2003

Community Page.
September 2, 2003... APGFCU Awards 5 Scholarships ABERDEEN, Md.-Aberdeen Proving Ground Federal Credit Union awarded college scholarships to Stacey Edwards, Amanda Longo, Lindsay Hannum, Sarah Burnett, and Megan Quigg. Digital FCU Plans Operations Center...

World's 'Have-More' CUs Urged To Do More For The 'Have-Less' World.
September 2, 2003... There are five global challenges facing the world's credit unions, according to Arthur Arnold, president of the World Council of Credit Unions. Speaking to WOCCU's International Leadership Forum here, Arnold said those five challenges...

What 1 Australian Discovered In Global Survey Of...
September 2, 2003... All politics may be local, but inspiration is global-or so it seemed to Maleny CU and the Foresters ANA Friendly Society, which undertook a worldwide survey of community development initiatives that featured several American credit unions. ...

The Extraordinary Steps An Australian CU Takes To Give Back To Its Community.
September 2, 2003... While Maleny Credit Union and Foresters ANA Friendly Society looked to the U.S. and other nations for inspiration on how to offer strong community development financial services, they also offer some models of their own. Among some of...

Calif. League Urges Treasury To Endorse Matricula.
September 2, 2003... 7 Credit unions should continue to be able to accept matricula consular cards as a form of identification from people seeking to open accounts, the California Credit Union League said in a letter to the U.S. Treasury Department. ...

CUNA Using Interactive Video Alerts Via E-Mail.
September 2, 2003... CUNA has introduced a new web-based, Interactive Video Alert that is being used by members of Congress to communicate with credit unions. The streaming video presentations are initially being used by three members of the House Financial...

Corporates' Donations Push CIF Over $250M.
September 2, 2003... The National CU Foundation's Community Investment Fund topped $250 million at the end of last month due in part to several large investments from corporates. These deposits include $15 million from WesCorp, $10 million from First...

Liberty Internet, CUNA Network Enter Merger.
September 2, 2003... Liberty Internet Services and Tampa, Fla.-based CUNA Network Services (CNS) said they plan to merge operations. The new entity will initially serve more than 1,500 credit unions with a range of Internet-enabled products and services. A...

Sacramento-Area CUs Help Save Elder Program.
September 2, 2003... SAFE Credit Union reported that it helped spearhead an effort by several local credit unions to save state elder abuse programs from budget cuts. Because of the coalition's efforts, Sacramento County's Adult Protective Services will...

CUDL Partnership With AutoNation Adds 43.
September 2, 2003... Credit Union Direct Lending (CUDL) said it has entered into a marketing partnership with the AutoNation-owned dealerships in California. The 43 Power Automotive Group dealerships within the Southern region and 20 AutoWest and AutoNation...

Democrats Support CU Use Of Mexican I.D.s.
September 3, 2003... Several Democratic lawmakers are lobbying the Treasury Department for its support to allow credit unions and others to continue using the matricula consular cards issued by the Mexican embassy to Mexican nationals working in the U.S. as a...

InteliData Moves To The Black.
September 3, 2003... E-bill payment services provider InteliData Technologies Corp., reported a slight loss of $11,000, or zero cents a share, for its fiscal second quarter, compared to a loss of $3.9 million, or eight cents a share, for the same period last...

NAFCU Trip Brings Back Some Harsh Memories.
September 3, 2003... Traveling to the annual NAFCU convention back home to my native Boston was a case of deja vu. For it was 11 years ago (I think), the last time the convention was in Boston, that I and my fellow travelers sat on the runway at...

People.
September 3, 2003... Insight Financial, Orlando, Fla., named George Davis vice president of lending, Lisa McCoy Maitland branch manager, and Karyn Randall business development executive. The Louisiana Credit Union League, Baton Rouge, La., elected to its...

The CUJ Daily.
September 3, 2003... CUs Wary On Governor's Recall SACAMENTO, Calif.-The credit union lobby is cautiously watching the petition initiative to recall embattled Gov. Gray Davis, who has worked closely with credit unions during his tenure. Bob Arnould, chief...

Community Page.
September 3, 2003... Minnesota CUs Hike The Hill BLOOMINGTON, Minn.-Credit union representatives from Minnesota visited Washington, D.C., and met eight representatives and both senators, NCUA board member JoAnn Johnson, the SBA's John Wade, and Jim Hammersley,...

CU Generates $200K For Christian Ministries.
September 3, 2003... Christian Community Credit Union is reporting that its "Cards that Give to Missions & Ministries" credit card program donated a record-breaking $200,000 to Christian-related causes during the summer. Since the program's inception in...

CUES, Calif. League To Offer 2 Educ. Programs.
September 3, 2003... The Credit Union Executives Society (CUES) has entered into a partnership with the California Credit Union League to sponsor two educational program. The first, called the Manchester Summit (named after the New Hampshire home of America's...

Familiar Faces In Place As CU West Mortgage Readies Itself.
September 3, 2003... When CUNA Mutual Mortgage Corp. closed its California operations in March, the California Credit Union League and Santa Ana, Calif.-based Orange County Teachers FCU formed a business entity to help area credit unions originate and service...

Home Equity Debt Cancellation Product Debuts.
September 3, 2003... CUNA Mutual has added a home equity debt cancellation product to its menu. Called "CU CHOICE Lending Protection Home Equity," the solution allows credit unions to choose from a variety of life events and time duration covering transient...

Buildings And Business: Many CUs Don't Realize Expansion Into Business Services Requires Changes In Their Facilities.
September 4, 2003... Credit unions interested in delving deeper into member business lending and other commercial account services already know they've got to hire the expertise to make such a program work. But what they may not know is that their existing...

Credit Bureau Settles Charges.
September 4, 2003... Equifax Inc. agreed to pay $250,000 to settle charges it didn't do enough to resolve calls from consumers inquiring about false credit information it was disseminating, the Federal Trade Commisison said. The FTC accused the credit...

TNB Offers A MasterCard Family.
September 4, 2003... TNB Card Services, a unit of credit union-owned Town North National Bank, said it is offering a MasterCard Family Account to its card-issuing members. The family account features one shared credit line to a primary cardholder, usually a...

Profits Rocket At Concord EFS.
September 4, 2003... Payments processor Concord EFS, in the process of selling itself to First Data Corp., said second quarter earnings surged 36% to $86.1 million, or 17 cents a share, from $63.2 million, or 12 cents a share, for the same period last year, on...

Privacy Advocates Eye Calif. Ballot.
September 4, 2003... A citizens group said it has gathered more than 550,000 signatures, far more than required, on a ballot initiative to enact a tough "opt in" privacy law on the use of confidential financial and medical information. But the group,...

Senate Funds Laundered Through CU.
September 4, 2003... An assistant campaign treasurer for U.S. Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., was charged with embezzling $350,000 from the senator's re-election campaign and depositing a large portion of the funds in a Florida credit union. Roger Blevins III,...

'Swap Meet' Boosts CU Lending.
September 4, 2003... Deere Community CU held its first "Swap Meet" last weekend in which 140 owners of used vehicles met to sell, buy and trade cars, trucks, boats, motorcycles and recreational vehicles. Sellers were required to preregister their vehicles,...

Banks Join CU For Development Loan.
September 4, 2003... Security Services FCU joined six banks in a syndicated $16 million loan to help the San Antonio Development Foundation buy 1,700 acres to develop a Toyota manufacturing plant. The unusual syndicate provided the development corporation...

Earnings On The Rise At eFunds.
September 4, 2003... Electronics funds processor eFunds Corp. said net income rose 13% for its second quarter to $5.1 million, or 11 cents a share, from $4.5 million, or 10 cents a share, for the same period last year, despite flat revenue growth. The...

Profits Are Surging At E-Loan.
September 4, 2003... Online lender E-LOAN Inc. said net income soared to $8.1 million, or 12 cents a share for its second quarter, compared to $900,000 or two cents a share, for the same period last year, on the strength of a big boost in lending. The...

NCUA Site Adds Insurance Estimator.
September 5, 2003... A new Electronic Share Insurance Estimator has been added to NCUA's website at www.ncua.gov. The estimator enables credit union members to estimate the amount of insurance protection provided by the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund...

Special Report: Facilities.
September 5, 2003... EH&S Completes New Branch SEATTLE, Wash.-Emick Howard & Seibert, Inc., have completed the new Catholic Credit Union branch in Ellensburg, Wash. PWCampbell Builds New Facility PITTSBURGH, Penn.-PWCampbell announced the grand opening...

Credit Union Journal Readers: Ask The Experts: Questions About Facilities.
September 5, 2003... Reader Question To what degree should the location of my competitors' branches influence where I choose to site my next branch? What are the pros and cons of locating a branch close to my competition versus far away from them? Gene...

Plaudits Begin For Dollar As Term Nears Its End.
September 5, 2003... Everybody at NCUA and those in the credit union trade groups are waiting for Gonzalez. That's Gilbert Gonzalez, Jr., the Deputy Under Secretary for Rural Development at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, who is widely expected to be...

More Large FOMs OK'd; San Diego CU Gets 3 Mill.
September 5, 2003... Another legacy Dollar will leave behind is the ever-expanding field of membership grants approved by NCUA. The agency continued to expand the parameters for its community FOM limits last month with a grant to Mission FCU, San Diego, to serve...

CUNA Helping Out The Congressional Freshmen.
September 5, 2003... CUNA said it focused its political fundraising efforts last month on first-time members of Congress, those lawmakers most vulnerable to electoral challenges, making campaign contributions to more than a dozen freshmen. Contributions went...

The CUJ Daily.
September 5, 2003... NFCU Logo On Bogus Credit Cards WASHINGTON-A husband and wife team were indicted on charges that they manufactured thousands of bogus Visa cards affixed with the Navy FCU name and logo to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars from...

Product & Service.
September 5, 2003... CRI To Offer Online Training ATLANTA-Creditor Resources, Inc. (CRI) said it has been working with WebEx to deliver additional credit union training online. Interactive training programs, said CRI, act to improve employees' product...

Minn. CU Uses Schools To Build Local Image.
September 5, 2003... Ninety-eight first graders crammed into one building? That was just the case at Central Minnesota Federal Credit Union (CMFCU) here, which, every spring and fall for the past 15 years, has welcomed crowds of students into its office to...

Texas Agency Trims Huge FOM Bid.
September 5, 2003... The state credit union regulator has balked at one of the most expansive field of membership requests ever, approving seven of the 18 counties requested by United Heritage CU in Austin. As a result, the $340 million credit union, set new...

The Business of Sharing: Dan Balagna Helped Pioneer Shared Branches Now He's Planning To Share The Open Road.
September 8, 2003... If his life were a movie script, Dan Balagna would say sayonara to his credit union career by riding into the sunset on his Yamaha Venture Royale, the wind slapping against his leather vest, the arms of his wife, Joy, snug around his waist. ...

New CU Tax Fire Doused Before Reaching Congress.
September 8, 2003... A bid to pierce the federal credit union shield from state sales taxes was soundly defeated here last week during the National Conference of State Legislatures' annual convention. The bid, launched by a Utah lawmaker frustrated by the...

Suspected Fraudster Steals Century CU ID In Ads, Online.
September 8, 2003... The FBI is investigating a company that has allegedly attempted to usurp Century CU's identity in a number of newspaper advertisements as well as online. The St. Louis credit union was tipped off to the problem by a Missouri CU...

ON DEADLINE.
September 8, 2003... Dollar Plugs Reg-Flex, Warns Of Federal Tax Fight BOSTON-In one of his final addresses as NCUA chairman, Dennis Dollar touted to more than 1,500 credit union executives the new regulatory approach being introduced to the federal CU...

Newspaper Ads Claim CU Connection, But There Isn't One.
September 8, 2003... Newspaper advertisements that allegedly mislead consumers into thinking that special customer appreciation sales were linked to area credit unions were pulled after threats of legal action by the Wichita deputy district attorney. Jamie...

Missouri Closes On State CU House.
September 8, 2003... The Missouri Credit Union Association has officially closed the purchase of an historic property in the state capitol, Jefferson City, to serve as the new Missouri Credit Union House. The House is to serve as a state-level version of the...

NAFCU Kicks Off Meeting With A View From The Troops.
September 8, 2003... 1st Sgt. Paul Berry, USMC, of Battalion Landing Team 2/2, 24 Marine Expeditionary Unit, Camp Lejeune, N.C. gives a first-hand account of Operation Iraqi Freedom, including financial lessons learned with his Marines at NAFCU's Defense Credit...

Worth Noting.
September 8, 2003... Matz To Host Small CU Meeting HIGHTSTOWN, N.J.-NCUA board member Deborah Matz will host a small credit union roundtable at the offices of the New Jersey Credit Union League here. The meeting is scheduled for Sept. 20. In May of this year...

Why CUs Will Benefit First From Check Truncation Law.
September 8, 2003... Now that the House and Senate have approved separate check truncation bills-and a conference committee is negotiating the final details-it's all but certain that the long- awaited check truncation legislation will soon become law. The law...

Study: Few CUs Do Good Job In Capturing Young Adult Market.
September 8, 2003... Credit unions may recognize that young adults are vital to their future, but few have done effective jobs at capturing the market, according to a new Filene Research Institute report. Suggesting that "credit unions in general have not...

Digital FCU Eyes New Ad Campaign.
September 9, 2003... Digital Federal Credit Union, New England's largest credit union, said it signed with Boston- based Cronin/Wallwork Curry to design and execute a new branding campaign to support its expansion into the greater Boston market. The...

ATM Program Signs New CU Client.
September 9, 2003... Bronco FCU said it has signed with Global Axcess Corp. to provide the company's Nationwide Money 'Branded Cash Program' to its members. The program is a turnkey ATM network that offers members surcharge-free access and promotes the credit...

PSCU Financial Teams With NYCE.
September 9, 2003... PSCU Financial Services said it has signed with First Data Corp.'s NYCE electronic funds transfer network to resell the company's services to its 500 credit union member/owners. Through its First Data parent, NYCE offers fully a integrated...

Benefits For Retired Officials Limited.
September 9, 2003... NCUA said federal credit unions may offer current officials long term care insurance they may not offer such benefits to retired officials. In a new legal opinion provided Northwest Farmers Insurance Group FCU in Tigard, Ore., NCUA said...

Mortgage Banking Carries Cendant.
September 9, 2003... Diversified marketer Cendant Corp. said the ongoing mortgage boom helped it weather the economic slowdown and report net earnings of $382 million, or 37 a share, up from just $7 million, or a penny a share, for the second quarter last year....

Mortgage Banking Carries Cendant.
September 9, 2003... The New York CU Foundation (NYCUF) has introduced a new website at www.nycuf.org, and www.nycuf.coop. "Our goal with the new site was to share information in a format that would allow visitors quick access to areas of most interest,"...

Open Solutions Adds CU Giant.
September 9, 2003... Open Solutions Inc. said Wednesday it has signed Addison Avenue Federal Credit Union to its core processing clients. The $1.7 billion, Palo Alto, Calif., credit union, formerly known as HP Federal Credit Union, has contracted for the...

Slowdown Hurts Jack Henry.
September 9, 2003... Jack Henry & Associates, the provider of processing and ATM services to more than 1,000 credit unions, said the sluggishness in the economy plagued its financial performance, with fiscal fourth quarter earnings off 11%, to $14.1 million, or...

ISP Reports Higher Revenues.
September 9, 2003... Internet services provider Online Resources Corp. said net losses for its fiscal second quarter rose slightly to $148,000, or a penny a share, from $133,000, or a penny a share, for the same period last year, despite a 7% rise in revenues to...

California Enacts Tough, New Privacy Law; Others May Follow.
September 9, 2003... California Gov. Gray Davis has signed into law a tough "opt-in" privacy bill that was passed by the legislature last week. The law, partially crafted by the credit union lobby, will require users of confidential financial information to...

NCUA Opinion Puts An End To 'Householding' Of Statements.
September 10, 2003... In a decision that could be costly for some credit unions, especially smaller ones, NCUA said that federally insured credit unions may not combine member statements from a single family in the same envelope because of privacy concerns. ...

Main Street Views On The Economy: What CU Business Lenders Are Seeing.
September 10, 2003... The U.S. economy may be emerging from its two-year slump-at least in the western part of the country-and small business owners are looking to their credit unions to help them expand. That's the consensus of nearly a dozen credit union...

United Nations FCU Takes The Plunge On Commerical MBS.
September 10, 2003... United Nations FCU will become one of the first credit unions in the nation to dip its feet into the commercial mortgage-backed securities market after the board gave its go-ahead last week. Christopher Sullivan, chief investment officer...

Study: The Price of Growth Is Loyalty.
September 10, 2003... Credit unions as a whole are viewed more positively by consumers as acting in consumers' best interest than competing banks and other providers, according to newly released research. But credit unions finished behind a number of well-known...

ON DEADLINE.
September 10, 2003... CUNA Senior Staff See 3.5% Salary Increases WASHINGTON-CUNA's top executives received pay raises averaging 3.5% in 2002, as the trade association was reporting a fiscal year loss for the fourth time in the last seven years. CUNA President...

End Of Free Health Insurance Leads To Two-Day Picket.
September 10, 2003... Workers at Inland Employees FCU staged a two-day picket of the credit union's two offices last week over a continued impasse on contract negotiations. The United Steelworkers Union, Local 2003-21 staged the two-day strike to protest...

Study Suggests Members Open To Uninsured Accounts.
September 10, 2003... Would credit union members be willing to invest in uninsured savings accounts if a higher rate of return was offered? Yes, according to a new Filene Resarch Institute study that examined the attitudes of 240 credit union members on...

'Privacy Week' Part of CU's Larger Differentiation Effort.
September 10, 2003... U of C FCU will host its first-ever Privacy Week next week, with presentations to members by the local district attorney's office and a national consumer advocate, and an opportunity for members to bring sensitive documents for professional...

Worth Noting.
September 10, 2003... XFCU Establishes Memorial Fund WEBSTER, N.Y.-Xerox FCU has established the Raymond L. Batzel Memorial Fund in honor of the XFCU member who was killed during a robbery of the credit union last week. A 23-year Xerox employee, Batzel was in...

A CU CEO Seems A Natural For Governor of California.
September 10, 2003... One-hundred and thirty-four candidates running for governor of California and not a credit union CEO in the bunch? Doesn't that seem a little hard to believe given that California's CUs are the most savvy and best funded at the state...

Two Years In A Changed World: Two Years After 9/11, Most Back At Work, Others Not; Foundation Has Good News; Tech Vendor Has No News.
September 11, 2003... It was two years ago this week that terrorists struck the U.S., killing thousands of people, causing billions in damage, and forever changing America's sense of security. Many credit unions and their employees were eyewitnesses to the...

CUs Seek To Craft Back-Up Relief Bill If Primary Bill Fails In Congress.
September 11, 2003... The credit union lobby is working with key lawmakers to craft a bill that would do much of what the pending regulatory relief bill would do-and then some-just in case the broad relief package fails to make it all the way to the finish line...

CEO Learns From Being Near The Fridge.
September 11, 2003... XCEL FCU CEO Jim Wisnieski will spend much of the second anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the basement, next to the coffee maker and the refrigerator. It's not that Wisnieski will be seeking shelter: it's been his...

CU Biz Lenders See Pick Up In Demand, But Decry Gov't Obstacles.
September 11, 2003... While politicians look to Wall Street to guage the national economy, credit union business lenders that serve Main Street say they see signs of improvement-along with problems for small businesses that are outside their control. Here in...

A Place to Talk.
September 11, 2003... Last month, I mentioned lunchtime visits I made to major banks in lower Manhattan. The investment areas in those two branches, if not off-putting, were at best uninviting. I said the physical set-up reminded me of the areas in car showrooms...

Investment Programs See Stronger First Half.
September 11, 2003... It may be a stretch to compare Gold Bank to Wal-Mart. But the Midwestern community bank and financial services firm - with $3.6 billion in banking assets and $1.2 billion in investment assets under management - is following a Wal-Mart-like...

Citigroup Fires Top Exec for Compliance Slip.
September 11, 2003... In a move that demonstrates the seriousness with which financial institutions take continuing education requirements - especially in light of its recent problems with regulators - Citigroup dismissed the top executive in its Citicorp brokerage...

Mergers, Main Street And Staying Independent: Privately held banks are benefitting from big-bank sprawl, picking off customers from their larger brethren with more intimate customer service and strong ties to the community.
September 11, 2003... While bank M&A activity stalled in the past year, investment bankers are eagerly awaiting the deal-making to heat up again. Good news for them, yet it won't be like the merger-mania days of the late 1990s when deals were written on the back...

Quattrone Trial: Personality Crisis: Yards from Wall Street, stars are set to come out.
September 11, 2003... When superbanker Frank Quattrone goes on trial in a few weeks, sticky late-summer Manhattan's federal court will need just a spark to ignite all that high octane mixed with air- conditioning. The jet fuel starts with Quattrone,...

Currency Fraud: Hey Buddy, Can You Spare A Million Dollar Bill?: New counterfeit scam hopes for one big payday.
September 11, 2003... Giving new meaning to the old expression "not worth the paper it's printed on," a new counterfeit scam is hitting the streets in ridiculously large denominations. Even while many people try to avoid the inconvenience of carrying a...

ON DEADLINE.
September 12, 2003... CU Turned Bank Now Set For Public Offering TACOMA, Wash.-Officials at former credit union Rainier Pacific Bank said they have all the regulatory approvals necessary to go public in an initial stock offering slated for later this month....

Second Payout Likely In Bentley Financial Services Case.
September 12, 2003... More than 100 credit unions victimized in the massive Ponzi scheme known as Bentley Financial Services are expected to get an additional payment on their principal investments over the next 60 days. Frank Mayer, a Philadelphia attorney...

(Frozen) Water & Power CU Has Cool Idea To Push Loans.
September 12, 2003... Water and Power Community CU recently offered members cold, hard cash-literally. The credit union randomly selected 10 area residents to "put their financial woes on ice" as they competed in WPCCU's "Pretty Cool Stuff" contest in which...

FTC: 10M Americans Victims Of ID Theft.
September 12, 2003... Identity theft victimized nearly 10 million Americans last year, and cost businesses and financial institutions almost $48 billion in losses and expenses, according to a survey released by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) last week. ...