PayThink

Maybe the idea was that banks were too stupid to see that they needed to "consider" ability to pay, but once compelled to consider it, they would make better lending decisions.

A number of years ago an executive from Marriott Hotels was speaking to a credit union audience about that company's management practices and some of the lessons it has learned. That included being especially responsive to guest feedback. And yet, as that saying goes about the best-laid plans...

Real-time personal marketing might seem like fiction, but it's becoming a reality as the mass customization movement picks up steam.

With the issuance of NCUA's Letter to Credit Unions on concentration risk, many credit unions are taking a long look at their overall risk-management processes.

Two-tiers, ATM exemptions, unbundling value-added services, Fed neutrality, Congressional ambivalence, Odd-Fellow lawsuits, and a host of Chickens Little squawking about their piece of the sky falling on everyone's head. Does anyone wonder why this Great Interchange Debate is so confusing?

From the What Goes Around Comes Around Department: In case you missed it, there was an interesting insight shared in the Feb. 28 issue by Steve Goldberg, exeutive director of the CUNA Mutual Foundation.

In response to Edwin Mierzwinski of U.S. Public Interest Group and his statement that the Durbin Amendment will have a beneficial impact on consumers, what this gentleman does not understand fully is that credit unions in general have not raised other fees in many years, and that we live on a much smaller income than the giant credit card issuers.

The ability to successfully implement a multi-channel marketing communication strategy will most likely be the single biggest challenge-and opportunity-for credit unions over the next few years.

Har-Co, which last month announced plans to convert to a bank, was founded in 1955 to serve school employees in Harford County, Maryland. Here's hoping that for them the lesson won't come after the test.

It seems to me that when someone agrees to do a job for a certain salary, the rewards for doing the job well are that the person is paid and he gets to keep the job.