PCUL Collects Toys For Tots
HARRISBURG, Penn.-The Pennsylvania Credit Union League collected more than 100 new toys for the Toys for Tots program.
Rep. Boehlert Gives Flag To FSFCU
LATHAM, N.Y.-Rep. Sherwood Boehlert presented First Source Federal Credit Union with a U.S. flag that had flown over the nation's capitol to thank the credit union for its support during campaign time.
SWCFCU Gives To Salvation Army
Weirton, West Virginia-Steel Works Community Federal Credit Union raised money for the Salvation Army by participating in the annual bell ringing campaign.
MECU-West Holds Charity Auction
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.-Motorola Employees Credit Union-West raised more than $5,365 at its annual holiday breafast and charity auction, which benefited the Phoenix Children's Hospital.
CU Changes Name To Meridian CU
ST. LOUIS-Telephone Credit Union changed its name to Meridian Credit Union, to encompass the full range of people served by the $120-million CU.
Mass. CUs Raise $240,000
WOBURN, Mass.-Eastern Corporate Federal Credit Union announced that its Credit Unions of Massachusetts Kids at Heart Team presented $240,000 to Children's Hospital Boston during WBZ-TV Children's Hospital Telethon.
Allied Solutions Donates To CMN
PLANO, Texas-Allied Solutions donated $10,000 to the Children's Miracle Network.
PSCU Donates To Salvation Army
WALNUT CREEK, Calif.-Pacific Service Credit Union donated $15,000 to the salvation Army to be used for the assembly and distribution of food baskets to low-income families.
CFCU Sponsors Santa Display
THORNDALE, Penn.-Citadel Federal Credit Union helped sponsor a Santa display at Exton Square mall with its banner on the display. Signature sponsorships are part of the credit union's branding strategies.
MACFCU Helps Tornado Relief Fund
MIDDLETOWN, Penn.-Mid-Atlantic Corporate Federal Credit Union donated $4,000 to the Mercer County Tornado Relief Fund, which was established by the pennsylvania Credit Union Foundation to aid the tornado recovery efforts.
LFCU Marches In Holiday Parades
HAMPTON, Va.-Langley Federal Credit Union participated in several holiday parades with a float featuring an 11- ft. tall Rudolph, which was constructed by LFCU staff.
T&C Receives Golden Web Award
BLOOMFIELD HILLS, Mich.-T&C Federal Credit Union was awarded the Golden Web Award by the International Association of Web Masters and Designers.
In additional news, the credit union held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the grand opening of its second Waterford branch.
FSCC Broadens Its Scope
SAN DIMAS, Calif.-Financial Service Centers Cooperative has opened new shared branches in New York, New Jersey, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts.
USAFCU Merges With DAFCU
AUBURN HILLS, Mich.-USA Federal Credit Union received approval from NCUA to merge with Dupont & Associates Federal Credit Union. The merger will add more than 3,500 DAFCU members to USAFCU's roster of more than 70,000 members.
Cruise Features Business Lending
MADISON, Wis.-CU Edu-Cruise set sail in the Caribbean, sponsored by International Credit Union Business Consulting and featuring a World Class Lending and Service at Sea theme for credit union leaders. It was hosted by John Vardallas.
SEFCU Donates Toys For Tots
ASTON, Penn.-Sun east Federal Credit Union celebrated the holidays with donations to the Toys for Tots program.
Leagues Sell Stockings For CMN
RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif.-The California and Nevada Credit Union Leagues sold paper stockings for $1 to benefit the Children's Miracle Network. Credit unions ordered 29,500 stockings for this year's campaign.
MATCU Supports Salvation Army
MEMPHIS, Tenn.-Memphis Area Teachers' Credit Union participated in the Salvation Army Angel Tree project, which provided clothing for 27 children and 11 seniors.
FBFCU Helps Make A Wish
FORT BELVOIR, Va.-Fort Belvoir Federal Credit Union recently donated $5,500 to the Make A Wish Foundation, and adopted two families through the Adopt a Family program.
In additional news, the credit union has completed converting its core data processing system and online banking platforms to Symitar Systems Episys.
VolCorp Opens New Corporate HG
Maine League Adopts-A-Family
WESTBROOK, Maine-The Maine Credit Union League's annual Adopt-A-Family resulted in the donation of more than $1,000 worth of gifts, gift certificates, and food to a single mother and her 2 children.
Chapters Unite For Aids Walk
RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif.-The San Francisco and El Camino Chapters united to form the California Credit Union League Coalition Against AIDS. The coalition of more than 160 credit union staff and members walked to raise more than $36,000 to benefit 38 AIDS organizations in the Bay area.
Penn. League Intro's Business Lending
HARRISBURG, Penn.-The Pennsylvania Credit Union League has introduced a new service, CU BizSource, to provide credit unions with a full range of member business services. Specifically, said the league, it will provide underwriting, document preparation and loan servicing for credit unions enrolled in the program. PCUL CEO Jim McCormack said the service is in response to credit unions wanting to enter member lending but lacking the expertise. CU BizSource provides enrolled credit unions with credit analysis/risk rating assignment on an applicant; loan documentation generation; loan accounting/servicing, including lien expiration monitoring and financial statement expiration and monitoring/covenant compliance and annual credit analysis and risk rating assignment as well as training opportunities. Loan approval decision, closing and funding are completed by the credit union. For info: www.cubizsource.com or 800-932-0661, ext. 5269.
New York Foundation To Support LifeSmarts
LATHAM, N.Y.- The New York State Credit Union Foundation said that as part of its financial literacy initiative it is stepping up to become the new statewide coordinator of LIFESMARTSs, a program founded and administrated nationally by the National Consumers League. "LifeSmarts. the Ultimate Consumer Challenge is a fun and rewarding educational opportunity that expands the consumer and marketplace knowledge and skills of high school students in an effort to better prepare them as responsible consumers in today's economy," the NYSCUF said. "This free program culminates as a game-show style competition and complements curriculum already in place for teens of all backgrounds and abilities in the 9th through 12th grades."
Any school can register for the competition. After completion of a three-week, multi-level on-line testing program, the top nine high school teams advance to the New York State finals. This year's final competition will be held in Albany on March 5th. To assist the state finalists with transportation and other needed support, the foundation is presently matching credit unions with each of the nine final New York State teams.
Flooding Causes Roof Collapse At FFCU
WEST COVINA, Calif.-Flooding from torrential rains here caused a portion of the roof to collapse at First Financial Credit Union's corporate center here. The building was occupied at the time of the collapse, and one employee received minor injuries and was treated on scene by paramedics. Portions of the building filled with up to four inches of water. CEO Richard Ghysels credited the credit union's disaster recovery plan with having all operations back up and running after a 20-minute delay. The $560-million First Financial has established an emergency command center in its headquarters and also has two emergency 12'x60' trailers for call center operations now on site. Repairs are expected to be completed by March 31.
Liberty To Print New, Fraud-Proof Check
MOUNDS VIEW, Minn.-It's a bird, it's a plane, it's Supercheck. Liberty Check Printers here is printing and distributing a new type of check the company said should significantly reduce check fraud, as it is impervious to chemical alterations, laser copying and even cut-and-paste attempts. Designed by former master con artist Frank Abagnale, the subject of, Steven Speilberg's Catch Me If You Can, Supercheck is a product of SAFEChecks, a check fraud prevention company based in North Hollywood, Calif. Today, Abagnale is Special Advisor to the FBI's Financial Crimes Unit. The Supercheck paper is manufactured by Leigh-Mardon of Australia. Liberty Check Printers will imprint and distribute the checks in the U.S. The company will partner with SAFEChecks to offer the new product to Liberty's more than 5,400 financial institution customers.
According to Liberty, SuperCheck has more than a dozen security features-some visible, some hidden-that make the check very difficult to alter, duplicate or scan.
Annual check fraud losses in the U.S. are estimated between $10 billion and $20 billion. According to the American Bankers Association (ABA), nearly 65% of fraudulent checks are drawn on consumer accounts.
Supercheck will be introduced this week during CUNA's Governmental Affairs Conference in Washington, DC. For info: www.libertysite.com.
Harland Wins IBM's Advanced Partner Status
ATLANTA-Harland Financial Solutions, Inc., a division of John H. Harland Company has been awarded IBM's Advanced Partner Status. Harland said the two companies will focus their efforts on delivering integrated customer relationship management, branch automation and core system solutions to the small and medium sized financial institution market. IBM's Advanced Partner designation embraces Harland Financial Solutions' Touch?r Customer Relationship Management Solution, Encore! Teller, Platform and Call Center Solution, and the ULTRADATA core system for credit unions. Having successfully passed all scalability and compatibility tests on IBM hardware and software, Harland Financial Solutions is now a preferred provider of CRM, Branch Automation and Core System solutions to small and medium-sized financial institutions, the company said. For info: www.harland.net.
Progeny To Give Away 2004 BMW Z4
NASHVILLE, Tenn.-Progeny Marketing Innovations is taking to the road with the Ultimate Driving Machine-a BMW 2004 Z4 Roadster convertible that it will be giving away to someone who registers at one of 15 conventions this year. The car will be given away at the BAI Retail Delivery conference in New Orleans in November. This is the fourth year the company has given away a car.
"We look forward to an exciting ride in 2003, and what better way to raise awareness about our dynamic new company that drives revenue to the bottom line than to give away one of the most fantastic brands on four wheels?" said Dan Tarantin, president and CEO of Progeny. "BMW is a leader in the luxury car industry, and one of the strongest brands on the road-we're aiming to be the same as a marketing company."
First up for the car: CUNA's Governmental Affairs Conference this week in Washington, D.C. For more info: http://www.progenymarketing.com.
SECU Improves Salary Advance Loan Program
RALEIGH, N.C.-The $10-billion State Employees' Credit Union (SECU) has made several improvements to a program launched two years ago that offers payday loans.
Called the Salary Advance Loan Program (SALO), it offers no-fee, low-interest loans to members who might otherwise turn to a check-casher. SECU has now added a savings enhancement it calls the SALO Cash Account that is designed to help build personal savings in a practical and easy way and will be a pledge against the Salary Advance Loan.
Each time a Salary Advance Loan is received, 5% of the advance will be deposited into this savings account.
Over a period of time, the savings account will grow, accumulate interest, and provide funds for future unexpected expenses, SECU said.
It has partnered with BALANCE, a consumer credit counseling service, to offer no-cost financial counseling that includes assistance with budgeting and debt management plans.
"The Salary Advance Loan Program has provided a valuable resource to our members who were being taken advantage of by payday lenders," said Phil Greer, Senior VP-Loan. "Many people are struggling with finances at this time and we feel that it is our responsibility to provide our members with services that help them get back on their feet and stay there. The SALO Cash Account is an excellent way for Salary Advance Loan participants to develop a savings plan that will help break the cycle of payday lending."
RDS Adds New Features To StreamLine
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind.-New features that further automate a financial institution's ability to deliver quick service have been added to the re:Member Data Services (RDS) StreamLine software.
The company said that automated e-mailing of account information, business account fields, and the addition of real-time support are new features just released to credit union clients.
"Automated e-mailing of account information is a timesaving feature that addresses the common request from account holders to provide information about transactions that have posted to specific accounts.," RDS said. "When viewing an account history within StreamLine, service representatives now have the ability to select an 'e-mail account history' button and the full history of transactions is automatically sent to the designated account holder's e-mail address."
Also added: the ability to add and maintain business accounts, created to reduce the amount of time spent opening new accounts, and real-time through the use of automated messaging.
If an application error occurs while using StreamLine, an e-mail message is sent to a support representative at RDS, who is then able to troubleshoot the problem and respond directly to the user with instructions on how to correct it.
For info: 800-888-2112.
