PayThink

Today, just about every credit union offers some kind of kids club, complete with coloring books and a mascot of some kind. Whether those clubs translate into a life-long affinity for credit unions remains open to debate.

Title insurance is one of the largest expenses when closing on a purchase or refinance, yet your members typically won't have a very good understanding of what it covers or costs.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – What will the nation’s credit union community look like 100 years from now? Will there even be one? Or will it be even more robust?

It’s something we struggle with from our earliest days at school: the art of sharing. But should the grownups at the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission really be spending their time on it? Some of the witnesses at day two of the joint hearings on harmonizing regulation between the two agencies didn’t think so.

It’s funny how the tables turn: Before he was confirmed, Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Gary Gensler faced a slew of criticism from members of Congress for being soft on derivatives regulation back in the ‘90s. Now Gensler’s golden and it’s Mary Schapiro, the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, who has to deal with past demons.

If Fannie Mae wasn’t busy enough sifting through the wreckage of its once proud business while operating under conservatorship, the government-sponsored enterprise is still diverting resources to executives from crises past.

I'll admit it. I was surprised. The message - "Don't cut research" - didn't come from marketing. It didn't come from any research-affiliated department. It came from operations.

Regulators require a substantial amount of information to evaluate a proposed merger. Faced with the task of assembling a merger package, credit unions can respond in one of three ways:

It's hard to imagine that only 10 years ago, airbags were only available on a select number of new luxury vehicles. Today, most consumers wouldn't consider buying a used or pre-owned vehicle without them.

They had to wait until August, but America's credit unions just knew they'd get national media attention, and why wouldn't they? It's the movement's 100th anniversary after all, and banks have been headed south more often than a New York retiree come November (more than 70 failures so far-banks, not retirees). So when USA Today turned its four-color-attention to credit unions, the coverage was naturally about - drumroll, please - high NSF fees and what was reported as lackluster payday loan alternatives.