* John Deere asks co. credit unions to cease using its name in theirs * Santa Barbara CU installs solar power, expects it to provide 60% of power * Credit unions across the country receive a postcard from a person seeking to make a deposit. Card was sent by Mark Dern, whose Dern Capital Management uses the same general counsel as Florida Bankers Assn. * Credit unions look to capitalize on popularity of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" program rollout makeover (home equity) offers of their own, along with related giveaways. Meanwhile, The Credit Union Journal invites credit unions to send photos of their offices in dire need of an Extreme Makevoer, and credit unions respond with workspaces typically limited to the incarcerated * Orange County CU creates "chief political officer." * Some unionized workers at CUNA Mutual picket at the home of Loretta Burd, chair of CMG, in Indiana, along with the homes of other board members * 2004 was not a good year for CUs on TV. On an episode of "The Simpsons," Bart receives as a gift a coffee mug emblazoned, "Premiere Credit Union." Lamented Bart, "Man, this is the worst birthday ever." A TV commercial from Mike's Hard Lemonade shows two buddies robbing a CU * The sale of PULSE for $311 million meant big payouts for some of the 1,600 CUs that owned a piece of the network. * Eugene Sukie, 79, set a new record when he walked into Integrity CU, Barberton, Ohio, with one-million pennies to be counted by a CoinStar machine * The Pennsylvania league introduces a check-cashing services program in conjunction with the Filene Research Institute and Certegy * A breakout session during the CUNA Future Forum in Hawaii turned feisty when session leader George Towle said a board succession plan is needed and board members in the audience disagreed. "You can be just as stale at 21 as you can at 81," said one person * State Employees CU, North Carolina, unveils plans to underwrite a scholarship in each of the state's high schools
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Synovus Financial demonstrated at an industry conference how it is using Microsoft's Copilot to help its staff address customers' concerns.
March 28 -
The U.S. arm of Spanish banking giant Santander has hired Swati Bhatia to oversee retail banking and its digital transformation efforts. Bhatia joins at "an inflection point" for the company, which aims to be "a digital bank with branches," CEO Tim Wennes said.
March 28 -
Mariya Rosberg is named Americas head of banking and financial services at Marsh McLennan's Oliver Wyman unit; startup ZayZoon raised $15 million in a new funding round; and more in the weekly banking news roundup.
March 28 -
Last year, the Raleigh, N.C.-based Integrated called off a deal to sell itself to MVB Financial after bank stocks took a hit in the aftermath of the regional bank failures. Capital hopes to expand its government-guaranteed lending with the transaction.
March 28 -
Once a prominent figure spurring financial institutions to engage in cryptocurrency, Bankman-Fried's downslide began with the collapse of the digital asset exchange FTX in late 2022 and hit rock bottom with his sentencing to 25 years in prison.
March 28 -
But the 30-year fixed rate mortgage is still near 7%, and that remains the overhang on the housing market, Freddie Mac said.
March 28