BECU Aids Affordable Home Project
TUKWILA, Wash.-Boeing Employees CU said it provided a $30,000 grant to the King County Housing Authority to help finance the Greenbridge Homeownership Plan, which will redevelop the Park Lakes area of White Center.
The grant will be used as seed money to help pay for consulting fees and finance a strategy to help families find homes in the new development.
The 569-unit Park Lake Home project is being redeveloped with the help of a $35-million federal grant.
The grant was made by the $4.6-billion credit union's Affordable Housing Program, created in conjunction with BECU's expansion to a statewide field of membership.
Check Scam Hits Fort Knox FCU
RADCLIFF, Ky.-Three suspects were arrested and charged with a check forgery ring that victimized Fort Knox FCU.
The three are believed to have printed checks on home computers with the credit union's name and logo, then used aliases and the phony checks to buy thousands of dollars worth of high-price goods at Wal-Mart, Lowe's, Krogers and other area chain stores, Radcliff police told The Credit Union Journal.
The suspects wrote checks for more than the purchase price of the goods, then pocketed the extra cash. They would return later and get a full cash refund for the merchandise.
The three were identified as: Karen Ashlock, of Glendale, Timmy Oldham, 24, of Bonnieville, and Christopher Moore, 24, of Elizabethtown. Credit union officials said the scheme netted less than $5,000.
Mich. CUs Form MBL CUSO
ANN ABOR, Mich.-Five credit unions have joined together to charter a new CUSO that will originate business loans and provide other business-related services.
The credit union partners have invested $1 million in the Michigan Business Connection as start-up capital.
The participating credit unions are: MidWest Financial CU, Ann Arbor; State Employees Area CU, Lansing; Detroit Edison CU; Macomb Schools and Government CU; and Christian Financial CU, Roseville.
DCCU Installs ATM Panic Button
ECORSE, Mich.-Downriver Community CU has become one of the first credit unions to install a 911 emergency call button at its ATM.
The panic button connects ATM users with police dispatchers through a two-way speaker, but only works when an ATM card is being used. The CU opted for this device after being hit by four robberies. The $1,400 device is manufactured by Safe Alert Systems of Pensacola.
Ala. CUs Expand Business Services
BIRMINGHAM, Ala.-CU Business Services, a limited liability corporation owned by Alabama CUs and the Alabama CU League, has partnered with PlatformOne, a provider of HR-BPO services, to provide specific technology infrastructure and administrative services to small businesses through its participating CUs.
The primary objective of the agreement is to offer services beyond training, merchant processing, and lending financial services, and to add human resources outsourcing services such as payroll and benefits administration, and finance and accounting outsourcing services such as billing, receivables, and financial reporting.
TNB Wins New CU Accounts
DALLAS-TNB Card Services said it signed card processing contracts with four new credit union customers.
TNB, a unit of credit union-owned Town North Bank, will issue cards and provide processing for Alcoa Community FCU, Benton, Ark.; Anne Arundel County Employees FCU, Millersville, Md.; and Raincross CU, Riverside, Calif. In addition, Yavapai FCU, Prescott, Ariz., has agreed to convert its current card program to TNB.
Member Robbed At ATM
JOHNSON CITY, N.Y.-A member of Visions FCU was held up at knife point while the member was trying to withdraw cash from the credit union's ATM.
Police said two men approached the member while she was making a transaction, forced the member to withdraw money, then made off with an undetermined amount of cash. The member was not injured.
American Airlines FCU Inks Processing Deal
FT. WORTH, Texas-American Airlines FCU said it has signed a five-year deal to have Certegy provide card processing, card loyalty, business development and consulting services for the credit union's new Visa card program.
The $3.9-billion credit union plans to launch the new card program over the next few months. Certegy will process the credit union's card portfolio on its BASE2000 payment processing platform.
Marine FCU Unveils New Headquarters Building
JACKSONVILLE, Fla.-Marine FCU has opened a new corporate headquarters on the outskirts of the downtown.
The three-story structure, opened last month, provides the $400 million credit union with 65,000 square feet.
The project cost $13 million to build. Marine Federal was chartered in 1959 to serve enlisted personnel at the U.S. Marine Corp.'s Camp Lejuene and now serves more than 400 select groups, as well.
Mortgage Payments By ATM Card
DALLAS-BillMatrix Corp. said it has introduced a program to allow consumers to pay their monthly mortgage payments with their ATM or debit cards.
The service will allow users to pay over the telephone or the Internet without using a PIN.
With the ATM/debit transaction, the BillMatrix system validates that the funds are available in the account for the payment in real-time and transfers the funds to the mortgage servicer.
