Aaron Passman

A proactive pension and retirement strategy is a must-have as credit unions begin their planning for 2013.

Don't give up on those members with less-than-perfect credit-they could be the key to loan growth in 2013.

A pre-conference hearing has been set between Vermont State Employees Credit Union and the state's Department of Financial Regulation, which is contesting the CU's use of the words "bank" and "banking."

Ben Psillas, president of Allpoint Network, noted that not only can a seamless integration help CUs reduce vendor costs and become more efficient, but also puts the institution in a better position to handle declining volumes of branch transactions.

Barb Kachelski, COO at the Credit Union Executives Society, said while CUs in recent years have focused internally on expense ratios and meeting the demands of regulators, now is the time to turn the focus outward.

"Many, many, many credit unions we talk to are concerned with the overall subject of 'replacement members,' and that means the younger generation," said Jerry Verdi, VP of market intelligence at Diebold.

Credit unions should continue to look for ways to improve their data-mining capabilities as they head into 2013, while also working to capitalize on the current "daily deals" craze.

NCUA has issued a Letter to Credit Unions regarding multi-featured open-end lending (MFOEL) and blended lending, and one person is predicting that the number of credit unions using open-end lending will continue to decline as a result.

Few issues are as common to or discussed more often among credit unions than regulatory examinations and examiners.

St. Louis Community CU has entered into a four-year partnership with Carrollton Bank that will increase lending opportunities for low-income consumers throughout the region.

At Vermont FCU, things are beginning to smooth out between the credit union and a member of the Occupy Vermont group who has been elected to the board.

Expense management is the name of the game at Tampa Bay FCU, and a focus on cost control was a major lesson the credit union learned as part of the recession.

SF Fire CU says one lesson the financial crisis has really taught it is the importance of a diversified loan portfolio.

The No. 1 thing State Employees' CU made a point of doing during the recession was asking members to come in and talk. That may not seem like much, but SECU believes it helped keep more than 8,000 SECU members in their homes.

The most effective recession survival strategy for Partner Colorado CU here wasn't about what was cut, but what wasn't cut.

If the recession taught anything to Sean McDonald, director of business development at Mid-State FCU, it's that there's nothing wrong with being assertive.

An increased focus on relationships and a member's commitment to getting out of debt were major takeaways from the recession for Community Financial Members CU.

Forth Worth Community CU emerged from the recent recession saying it has been reminded of one important lesson: the importance of a diversified marketing strategy.

The recession led Ent FCU to take a different approach to its collections process, including rebranding its collections department, and beefing up its staff.

There is such a thing as too many loan promotions. CP FCU learned that the hard way.