ON DEADLINE

NCUA Hints That NCUSIF

Dividend Is In Jeopardy

ALEXANDRIA, Va.-Higher than expected credit union growth last year may hurt the credit union movement by preventing NCUA from paying a dividend on the NCUSIF for the first time in seven years.

The 12% growth in credit union shares for 2001, coupled with lower earnings on the fund's $5-billion Treasury portfolio, will dilute the reserve ratio of the share insurance fund to around 1.27% (dollars reserved per $1,000 of insured deposits), below the 1.3% at which NCUA may pay a dividend.

The fund earned $254.6 million last year, most of it interest on its Treasury holdings. That's down 6% from the $270.1 million earned in 2000.

The report on the NCUSIF was the only issue discussed at last week's NCUA board meeting, with five other agenda items deferred until the Feb. 7 meeting when sole current board member, Dennis Dollar, is expected to be joined by at least one other member. Credit union representatives expect the Bush administration to name Republican JoAnne Johnson and Democrat Deborah Matz to the three-person panel any day.

Member Gets $8M Bill

BINGHAMTON, N.Y.- Visions FCU is working to find out when one of its ATMs served notice to a member that she owed $8 million on her VISA card. The member, Lynann Lorenz, 21, of Apalachin, N.Y., was issued a credit card receipt at the credit union's ATM in Vestal, N.Y., explaining the bill. The credit union said it's clear that Lorenz does not owe the $8 million on her credit card.

E-Signatures Go Live

PHOENIX-Arizona Central CU became the first institution to go active with an electronic signature-based transaction system developed by Interlink Electronics, Inc., and Bluepoint Solutions. The system, known as Receipt Manager integrates Interlink's ePad electronic signature pad with Bluepoint's document management software to electronically receive, process, sign and store teller-based transactions

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