Branch banking

ATLANTA – Despite the hype around mobile, bricks and mortar still play a key role in financial consumer satisfaction and retention, according to a recent survey.

The masterminds behind the recent crime spree that netted $45 million in fraudulent ATM withdrawals focused their attention on prepaid cards, highlighting yet another risk banks face when offering such products.

VICTORVILLE, Calif. – Alaska USA FCU plans to open a new branch after a $5.1-million renovation of a former Santa Fe Federal Savings and Loan building.

EL PASO, Texas – GECU and the local Kinley’s House Coffee & Tea are introducing a new concept – combining a credit union branch with a café.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Empower FCU said it is saving $2,745 per month – or almost $33,000 per year – after exterior LED lighting upgrades at seven of its branches.

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – SESLOC FCU is planning to build a new, 9.5-acre office campus here, with hopes to open in the summer of 2014.

NOVI, Mich. – Vibe CU, known till recently as Telcom CU, has revamped its ATM fleet with new Opteva ATMs from Diebold and CO-OP Financial Services that offer the convenience of shared branching at the self-service channel.

ROCKVILLE, Md. – National Institutes of Health FCU opened a branch in the National Cancer Institute’s new Rockville offices.

KYLE, S.D. – Lakota FCU, the first federally insured financial institution on the Pine Ridge Reservation, home to the Sioux Indian tribe, opened Friday.

RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif. – CO-OP Financial Services announced this morning it is rebranding the CU Service Centers shared branch network and its “swirl” logo and signage it acquired in a 2012 merger with Financial Service Centers Cooperative with the CO-OP Shared Branch signage over the next two years.

CORINTH, N.Y. – Hudson River Community CU has moved into a new, $3-million operations center here.

Residents of this city's troubled west side finally have access to mainstream financial services, thanks to a unique partnership between a credit union and a church.

After years of borrowing branch design ideas from retailers, one expert is advising credit unions to think like web designers.

Looking to change your members' behavior? One person says it starts with the branch-but the branch can only take you so far.

If there's one design element Andrea Simler-DeGolier recommends CUs stay away from, it's posters.

TAMPA, Fla. – Suncoast Schools FCU plans to open a new environmentally friendly branch in Fort Myers next month – its second new branch in three months after a five-year hiatus on branch building.

HAMPTON ROADS, Va. – Chartway FCU last week purchased an 83,436-square-foot, four-story building in nearby Virginia Beach for $11 million.

RALEIGH, N.C. – State Employees’ CU has signed with Wincor Nixdorf to provide a variety of multi-vendor software solutions to manage its 1,100 cash machines, the biggest fleet of any credit union.

COLONIE, N.Y. – CAP COM FCU on Tuesday night received final approval to build a new three-story, 118,400-square-foot office here.

HOUSTON, Texas — Texas Dow Employees CU quadrupled the size of its branch inside the Marathon Oil Tower, part of a major renovation to the landmark building.