Americans borrowed a record $256 billion against the value of their homes last year, but Texas banks - and homeowners - largely missed out on the boom because the state's laws on home equity lending are by far the strictest.

Bank robbers in Massachusetts will have more time to contemplate their crimes if a bill being pushed by the Massachusetts Bankers Association becomes law.

Add Oregon to the growing list of states considering a tax on credit unions.

Financial services companies entered the year in a high state of anxiety about their ability to freely share credit data and engage in some basic transactions nationwide.

The Credit Union Journal

Bankers in Nevada are up in arms about the governor's proposed revenue tax for businesses - even those that post losses.

New Mexico bankers are backing a proposal by the new governor that they say would stimulate the state's technology economy and steer more high-tech customers their way.

The Maryland Department of Financial Regulation expects legislation to be introduced this week in the General Assembly that would increase its funding and re-sources and, it hopes, better prepare it for an Allfirst-like debacle.

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act apparently did not go far enough to suit California lawmakers.

- VALLEY FORGE, Pa.(11/08/00) - Fiserv said its USERS Inc. unit has signedwith Maxxar Corp. to incorporate Maxxar's voice recognitiontechnology into telephone call centers. Under the deal, Maxxar'sCentrum 9000 will offer USERS' clients the ability to utilizeNatural Language Speech Recognition, a feature that simplifiesphone-based services by allowing the caller to make requests andask questions through conversational speech. The feature willenable credit unions to speed their telephone transaction times andimprove member satisfaction by eliminating the need to usetelephone keypad prompts.