Killer Was Wearing Jacket Reading 'FBI'
WEBSTER, N.Y. -Police have confirmed that the man who shot and killed one member of Xerox FCU here last week during an attempted robbery was wearing clothing that resembled that of law enforcement officials. Webster police and the FBI said the robber, who remains at large, had on his jacket what resembled a U.S. marshal's badge, and that the jacket also had the initials FBI. The police said they are pursuing tips and that a video camera captured a "superb" photograph of the assailant. Killed during the robbery was Raymond L. Batzel, 51. Shot and injured was Joseph Doud, 28. XFCU said that more than half of its 19 branches are located on Xerox Corp. sites. It was the first time the Webster facility had been robbed.
Treasury Gets Loud Message On Proposal
WASHINGTON-The Treasury Department is feeling the weight of nearly 30,000 comment letters urging it to refrain from toughening an anti-money-laundering rule that sets requirements for identifying new customers at financial institutions. Treasury was urged to reconsider its customer ID rules by House Judiciary Committee Chairman F. James Sensenbrenner Jr., who critics said is simply unhappy over the rulemaking process. In addition to financial institutions, which fear the paperwork burdens that will result, community advocates (concerned over making it more difficult for immigrants to join the mainstream financial system) and the Catholic church have objected to the proposal. At issue is an Oct. 1 deadline for implementation of section 326 of the USA Patriot Act and requirements related to the use of ID cards issued by foreign governments. Many of the comment letters say the matter has already been debated and resolved.
NAFCU Nominates Trio For CAC
ARLINGTON, Va.-NAFCU last week sent to the Federal Reserve its nominations for the Consumer Advisory Council. NAFCU has recommended Michael Hale, president of Andrews FCU, Suitland, Md.; Michael N. Lussier, president of Webster First FCU, Massachusetts, and Peter C. Spratt, VP-compliance and general counsel with Chetco FCU, Harbor, Ore.
NCUA Renews 'Defense' Deal
ALEXANDRIA, Va.-NCUA said it has awarded a second consecutive contract to Digital Defense, Inc. to verify network security at three corporate credit unions with total assets of approximately $3 billion. The San Antonio-based Digital Defense will audit the three corporates for internal and external network vulnerabilities, without the expense of an onsite security analyst, through Digital Defense's Reconnaissance Network Appliance, or RNA. For info: www.digitaldefense.net .
Yodlee Intros Bill Pay Product
REDWOOD CITY, Calif.-Yodlee, Inc., among the pioneers in account aggregation technology, has introduced an online bill payment and presentment (EBPP) product called BillDirect. The company is entering a market dominated by CheckFree Corp., which has approximately a 75% marketshare, and Metavante Corp. Yodlee counters by noting it has more than 100 large financial services clients, including American Express, Citgroup, Merrill Lynch and Charles Schwab.
Trades Still Pushing For Relief
WASHINGTON-Lobbyists for both CUNA and NAFCU said they continue to push hard for reg relief legislation, the bankruptcy reform bill and other legislation even as Congress is out of session. The reason: when Congress returns after Labor Day it will have a short window to address a number of bills that credit unions want-and others oppose. CUNA has been using its new streaming video technology distributed via e-mail in which several members of Congress lobby credit unions to press their respective representatives to support the reg relief bill. NAF-CU's Bill Donovan said that when the group hosts its Congressional Caucus beginning Sept. 21 in Washington, credit unions will not be encouraged to lobby for one particular bill, but for several.
