Debit Deal To Cut CUs' Income
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.-PSCU Financial Services said it will alert its more than 500 credit union member-owners to adjust their budget incomes for the remainder of the year as a result of the recent "honor all cards" settlement in the merchant class-action lawsuit against Visa USA and MasterCard International.
The company said the settlement will cut credit unions' signature-based debit card interchange income by one-third.
In addition, some credit unions may have to reissue their debit cards because of the settlement.
PSCU provides credit, debit, ATM and contact-center solutions to credit unions that combined manage 6.9 million U.S. cardholder accounts.
Hipbone Teams Up With Corillian
SAN CARLOS, Calif.-Hipbone Inc, a provider of online customer interaction solutions for financial institutions, said it has joined with Corillian Corp. to provide a fully integrated, live online customer interaction solution for credit unions and banks.
The new system, called Corillian LiveService, will allow online banking customers to interact with customer service representatives in real-time via secure text chat, co-browsing and Internet call-back.
The system will combine the Corillian Voyager platform with Hipbone's Symetry suite of live customer service products and will enable customers to interact instantly and directly with call center agents.
Florida CU Gets Largest FOM Grant
ALXANDRIA, Va.-Dade County FCU, rejected in its 2001 bid to serve all of Miami-Dade County, was approved to serve the Sunshine State's largest county last month under NCUA's new FOM rules.
The new rules, allowing federal credit unions to add a previously established metropolitan area as a single community, will enable the $310- million Miami credit union to serve the 2.3 million residents in the county, the largest field of membership (FOM) ever granted for a federal credit union.
The credit union is one of two federal charters, along with Pan Am Horizons Federal Credit Union, denied permission by NCUA to serve the entire county in 2001, but gained approval to serve more than half the county later that year by stringing together more than a dozen low-income population tracts.
At least one state chartered credit union is authorized to serve all of Miami-Dade County.
NCUA OKs Large Community FOMs
ALEXANDRIA, Va.-NCUA said it approved 19 conversions to community charter last month, the most ever for a single month.
Among May's grants were: Ocean Communities Federal Credit Union, Biddeford, Maine., to serve 460,000 residents in York and Cumberland counties; Coastline FCU, Jacksonville, Fla., to cover 800,000 residents in Duval County; Louchem FCU, Louisville, Ky., to encompass 700,000 residents in Jefferson Count, Ky.; Truservice FCU, Little Rock, Ark., to serve 500,000 residents of Faulkner and Pulaski counties, Ark.; Lansing Automakers FCU, Lansing, Mich., to cover 450,000 residents in Clinton, Eaton and Ingham counties, Mich.; Unicorp FCU, Whiting, Ind., to encompass 500,000 residents of Lake County, Ind., as well as the previously approved grants of two Utah credit unions converting to federal charters, America First CU and Goldenwest CU, to serve 1.6 million residents in six Utah counties.
Pentagon Continues Merger Binge
ALEXANDRIA, Va.-Pentagon FCU was approved by NCUA to acquire its third credit union in the past six months, $26 million Fort Hood Military FCU, in Fort Hood Texas. That follows two December acquisitions for the $5.8- billion CU, those of $46-million Fort Shafter FCU in Hawaii and $13-million Coast Guard EFCU in Maryland CUA also approved three more mergers of State Farm Insurance CUs, part of the roll-up of 24 CUs serving agents and employees of the insurance giant, into 13 regional CUs CUA approved 25 mergers last month, making a total of 106 through the first five months of the year. Last month's approved mergers will eliminate another 15 small credit unions under $5 million in assets.
