BankThink

The recession, it seems, has created at least one growth industry — People Helping Themselves. Reports of embezzlements and employee theft seem like almost weekly events.

A member of CURE answers the question: What top future trends and changes do credit unions need to be aware of to ensure that we can continue to stay competitive and offer our members the best in financial services?

Jonesing for the Obama administration’s official proposal to overhaul Fannie and Freddie? Here are some housing reform prescriptions to tide you over until tomorrow morning.

Lenders, these days, are overwhelmed. While striving to remain compliant, lenders may be forgetting to ask their appraisal management companies these crucial questions.

Factors such as residential racial segregation present more fundamental challenges to the nation's economy than whether we figure out how to resolve the too-big-to-fail problem.

If CUs don't embrace change now, quite frankly, [disaster awaits/disaster is imminent/the light at the end of the tunnel really is an oncoming train]. Blockbuster Entertainment: need I say more?

If you find yourself in an Irish pub this summer-and by that I mean the authentic public houses with the history embedded in the mist of the Emerald Isle and not the franchise at your local mall-I wouldn't suggest complaining to the local lads about the tough year you've had in America's credit unions.

Data has become an essential raw material for American business, almost on a par with capital and labor. The reality is that financial institutions have more information on their customers/members than any other industry. This data wealth is a tremendous advantage for those organizations that use and analyze information wisely.

Perhaps all those privately insured credit unions would like to pay back to NCUA the windfall insurance benefit they received when the corporates failed. Seems to me that they were only entitled to the $250,000 insured balance NCUA had in place.

The good news is there is a silver bullet for creating a competitive brand. The bad news is that the silver bullet is discipline, which requires consistent, focused, hard work every day.