CU 24, ATM Express Add 10,000 ATM Locations
TALLAHASSEE, Fla.-Credit Union 24 has teamed up with ATM deployer and driver ATM Express, Inc., to add more than 10,000 ATM locations to the CU24 network.
The agreement between Billings, Mont.-based ATM Express and Credit Union 24 will bring CU24's 15 million cardholders to ATM Express terminals, and will allow CU24-member credit unions access to a total of more than 75,000 ATMs across the country.
For info: www.cu24.com
CUs See Membership Grow To 86 Million
MADISON, Wis.-Credit union membership grew to more than 86 million by the end of 2004-a 2.4% increase from the 84.87 million at year-end 2003, according to CUNA.
The top five states for credit union membership are: California, 9.79 million; Texas, 7.2 million; Virginia, 5.18 million; Michigan, 4.45 million; and Florida, 4.44 million, CUNA said.
Loans grew 10.4% to $429.1 billion at year-end 2004, compared with 9.4% growth for the same period a year earlier at $388.5 billion.
Family Trust Members Greeted With Surprise
YORK, S.C.-Members and employees of Family Trust FCU were met with a brief fright when a car ran off the road and came crashing through the credit union's front wall after the driver apparently suffered a fatal heart attack. Police believe the 49-year-old driver lost consciousness just before his Cadillac ran off the road and slammed through the building around at 10 am.
Several members and employees were inside at the time but none of them was injured.
The car crashed through the front doorway and knocked out an office wall, causing about $20,000 in damage. The driver was pronounced dead after being transported to a nearby hospital.
Child Finds Gun In CU Bathroom
KNOXVILLE, Tenn.-An eight-year-old child found a loaded handgun in the restroom of the TVA CU branch here last week.
The gun was accidentally left behind by a fill-in security guard, according to a credit union official.
The child found the gun and brought it into the lobby of the building. No shots were fired and no one was injured.
Robbery Charges Dismissed
ALAMOSA, Co.-Robbery and theft charges against a suspect in last April's armed hold-up at Valley Educators CU were dropped last week just as the trial in the case was scheduled to begin.
The district attorney said testimony from potential witnesses conflicted and a new witness surfaced at the last minute who may be able to provide an alibi for the chief suspect in the case, Richard Duarte.
As a result, the case was dismissed without prejudice, which means that charges could be re-filed at a later date.
CU Robber Earns Leniency
ST. JOSEPH, Mich.-A drug dealer convicted of last January's armed robbery at Greater Niles Community Federal Credit Union will be granted a lighter jail term when he is sentenced next month in exchange for his testimony in a murder trial last week.
Authorities have agreed to not consider three previous felony convictions against Odie Miller when he is sentenced April 28 for the $10,000 credit union robbery because Miller's testimony helped convict his jailhouse cellmate Rodney Hubbard of murder this week.
In a July 25 conversation with Hubbard, secretly recorded by Miller, Hubbard bragged about the 1999 killing. that was key to the murder trial, authorities said. Miller's accomplice in the credit union robbery was sentenced last July to as long as 75 years in jail.
The Credit Union Journal's On Deadline coverage is sponsored by Liberty. For info: www.libertysite.com.
