Ray Birch

MOORE, Okla.-As Janita Davis opened the door and stepped out of the credit union vault that saved her life and the lives of more than 20 others from the historic tornado that leveled this town, she knew she'd see devastation that would take her breath away.

CUs in the path of the deadly tornadoes that swept through the Plains last week are now focused on rebuilding their communities, with the majority of CUs fortunate to escape with only minor damage, CUNA Mutual Group reports. The Moore, Okla., office of Tinker FCU, however, was not so lucky.

Just how many more credit unions will buy banks over the next few years is unclear, but one thing is certain-there are more deals currently in the works.

One of the most challenging aspects of moving to CEO from the accounting side of the house is leaving a role based largely on numbers and statistics to one in which many subjective decisions are made.

Residents of this city's troubled west side finally have access to mainstream financial services, thanks to a unique partnership between a credit union and a church.

Teamsters Council #37 FCU has developed a way to offer mobile remote deposit check capture that will only cost this small CU a few hundred dollars.

Andree Kirk was having a conversation with her CEO about consumers' lack of knowledge regarding credit unions, when she suggested that something was really needed to spread the word about credit unions to all those dissatisfied bank customers.

The role of the CEO and the skill sets required have changed since 2008, contends David Ardire.

Twenty years after starting a career in credit unions, Roy Bibb has a much different perspective of the CEO's role now that he's sitting in that chair.

Having seen good and bad management practices from the inside of more than 150 CUs during his time as an NCUA examiner, Michael DiBenedetto feels he's in a better position today to run South Florida Educational FCU.

From stay-at-home mom to part-time teller to credit union CEO 23 years later, Karen Greenleaf would not trade her career path for any other.

There are several reasons Lloyd Hamm, Jr., took the CEO's job at Grafton Suburban CU, but none bigger than the former banker wanting to execute management and business philosophies that center on helping people.

John Klimas says managing people is the CEO's No. 1 job. Yet he also acknowledges that despite its importance, there is no formal training that prepares someone for the role.

The first thing Jim Lafoon did when he took over as CEO in December 2012 was remove all the awards from the massive trophy case in Security Service FCU's headquarters and replace them with a small sign.

When Bernie McLaughlin arrived recently at Point Breeze CU as its new CEO, he had 33 years in financial services, 29 of those in banks.

The first deadline in the U.S. payments migration to EMV has passed, and while the risk to most CUs may be small for non-compliance, experts say it's a risk credit unions should evaluate if they choose not to comply.

Saying that today it takes the checking account AND the payment card to become a member's PFI, CO-OP Financial Services shared advice on tuning up card portfolios.

In the absence of a standard that determines when someone is impaired by marijuana, employers are often left to rely on reasonable suspicion when attempting to prove an employee is under the influence of the drug and it is affecting their work.

When establishing workplace policies for drug and alcohol issues, an important step is staff communication, experts say.

As the number of states that approve medical marijuana use rises, so does CUs' risk for employment battles-and possible member service issues-from staff using the drug.