House Poised To Pass Mortgage Reform Bill
WASHINGTON-The House was expected last week to pass a mortgage reform bill aimed at curbing abuses in the subprime market, but sure to entangle credit unions.
While most of the provisions would only apply to high-cost mortgages, generally defined as subprime, the bill would also require licensing for all mortgage originators, create limited liability for originators selling mortgages on the secondary market for violations of federal lending laws, and require that all mortgages be made with a determination that a borrower has the ability to repay the loan. The Senate is not expected to take up the measure until next year.
Payday Lending Fee Disclosures Magnified
WASHINGTON-The trade association representing more than half of the payday lending outlets in the nation is imposing a new fee disclosure policy on its members in an attempt to stave off criticism of the industry from lawmakers, consumers groups and credit unions.
The Community Financial Services Association of America will require the 164 payday loan firms it represents to install poster-size displays of their fees in all of their stores and websites starting Jan. 1. Those 164 firms' locations make up about 60% of all payday advance providers in the nation.
CFSA has also created a new website at www.knowyourfee.org to help educate consumers about the costs associated with payday loans and other similar products. It's the second phase of CFSA's "Customer Pledge" program aimed at consumer education-and helping to heal the black eye the payday loan industry has gotten from its variety of critics, who suggest the loans are largely predatory in nature.
Mass. CU Loses City Hall Subsidy
HAVERHILL, Mass.-The cash-strapped Haverhill City Council voted last Tuesday night to end the free rent in City Hall for the Haverhill Teachers CU and will start charging $500 a month in rent to the $14-million credit union.
The three-year lease agreement calls for increases of $25 a month in each of the last two years, costing the credit union almost $19,000.
The lease is part of a move by the city to earn revenues from institutions using city property for free. Last May, the Haverhill Fire Department CU agreed to buy the city armory, which it had been leasing for $1 a year, for $257,235. The city has also signed for-pay deals recently with other entities using municipal property.
ATM Deposit Imaging Unveiled At BAI
LAS VEGAS-Heritage Family CU announced at the BAI Retail delivery Conference that it has deployed NCR's end-to-end image processing at the ATM.
The Rutland, Vt., credit union purchased five NCR Personas M Series 86 drive-up and through-the-wall ATMs with Intelligent Deposit capability for installation this month in its Rutland and Bennington branches. The units capture deposited check images for display on the screen and on the customer's receipt.
Heritage Family uses NCR's ImageMark Passport technology and validation software to capture, verify and prepare a balanced image file for exchange with the Federal Reserve. ImageMark validation software enables the image transfer and includes sophisticated balancing and error-detection tools to help reduce back-office time, eliminate errors and flag questionable transactions for investigation.
Jack Henry To Offer Mobile Banking
MONETT, Mo.-Jack Henry & Associates is now offering credit unions and banks a mobile banking product called goDough.
The product was developed internally and is a browser-based system. It is device-and carrier-independent, making it compatible with any web-enabled mobile phone, regardless of make or model, and with all mobile phone carriers.
Jack Henry will also provide marketing resources to promote the product or its customers.
