NCUA Approves Expanded Powers For CUSOs
ALEXANDRIA, Va.-The NCUA Board last week approved expanded powers for credit union service organizations, the credit union-owned subsidiaries known as CUSOs, that will allow them to offer credit card loans directly for the first time. The amended rule will also allow CUSOs to offer payroll processing and added specific new powers to offer stored value cards, gift cards, postage stamps and transportation tokens.
The rule also gives CUSOs the power to buy and sell participations in loans they are authorized to originate.
The new rule will also give NCUA explicit access to the books and records of CUSOs owned by federally insured credit unions, something most credit unions and CUSOs, which are state-chartered corporations, have resisted. But the rule gives state credit union regulators the ability to opt out for state chartered CUs they supervise.
In approving the final rule, NCUA rejected a proposal made by several credit unions and CUSOs, including CU Direct Lending, which would have allowed CUSOs to originate auto loans and charter a motor vehicle acceptance corp., such as GMAC. The proposal would have allowed credit unions to leverage their finances to compete with GMAC and other major lenders. Under current CUSO rules, CUDL loans must be originated by an individual credit union.
Video of First Day of A CU In U.S. Now Available
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.-Video of the re-enactment of the creation of America's first CU can be seen at www.cujournal.com.
Royal CU Gets REAL In Minn.
EAU CLAIRE, Wis.-Royal Credit Union, the state's fifth largest credit union, will expand into Minnesota with a deal to acquire REAL Financial CU, a $29 million Minneapolis-based CU that reported a $1.2 million loss for the 2008's first three quarters.
REAL CU, whose members include Realtors, their staffs and families, may be best known for the 2005 capture of the "Fishing Hat Bandit," a serial robber who hit 23 credit unions and was arrested after REAL Financial CU President Dean Wickstrom chased him down after he held up the credit union. Wickstrom followed the bandit to a nearby garage and kept watch while he called police on his cell phone.
Royal CU, with $1-billion in assets, plans to retain the smaller credit union's brand name at its Minnesota branches. Wickstrom will continue to oversee all REAL locations as regional manager.
The combined credit union will have 14 branches, 11 across central and western Wisconsin and three in the Twin Cities, and serve more than 120,000 members.
Navy Fed, Co. Settle Dispute
VIENNA, Va.-Navy FCU has signed a licensing agreement with Ronald A. Katz Technology LP in order to settle a patent dispute over call center technology, the two parties announced.
Under the agreement, Navy Fed purchased a license Katz and licensed through its affiliate, A2D, L.P.
The nonexclusive license covers services offered by the world's largest credit union in the "Financial Services Call Processing" field of use including customer service delivered through automated systems and live agents.
Other terms of the license were not disclosed.
Katz is the named inventor on a large number of patents primarily in the fields of telecommunications and computing. He also formed Telecredit Inc., the nation's first on-line real time credit and check cashing authorization system, and was awarded a patent as co-inventor of the technology.
Corrections & Clarifications
COSTA MESA, Calif.-An article in the Credit Union Journal Daily Briefing incorrectly identified one of two privately insured credit unions being merged out. It is Pacific Coast CU, and not California Coast CU.
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