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ALEXANDRIA, Va. – NCUA said this afternoon it liquidated GIC FCU, a $16 million Euclid, Ohio, credit union, the 19th credit union failure so far in 2012.

BALTIMORE – MECU of Baltimore, which paid its members a $2 million mid-year bonus in July, paid another $1.14 million on December 5, and plans one more bonus before the end of the year.

MECHANICSBURG, Penn. – AmeriChoice FCU said it has been accepted as a member of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh, the bank’s 27th credit union member.

FAIRBORN, Ohio – Wright-Patt CU, on pace for its best year ever, announced this afternoon it is paying members a $6 million Special Patronage Dividend Jan. 3, its biggest member payout yet.

PEORIA, Ill. – CEFCU announced this morning it is paying its members a record $9 million holiday dividend.

CU members who started shopping this holiday season recorded roughly the same buying activity on Black Friday in 2012 as they did in 2011, but dramatically increased their transaction and spending levels on Thanksgiving Day 2012 vs. 2011.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – State regulators approved the merger of State Center CU, a troubled one-time $90 million Fresno credit union, into Valley First CU, a $415 million credit union in nearby Modesto

CINCINNATI – Fifth Third Bancorp, which created processing giant Vantiv, Inc. and helped take it public earlier this year, expects to earn as much as $280 million with the sale of as many as 13.6 million Vantiv shares registered last week.

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. – CPM FCU, struggling with a $1.6 million loss for the first three quarters, removed its two top executives yesterday and brought in a work-out specialist to manage the $270 million credit union.

WILLIAMSVILLE, N.Y. – Western Division FCU paid its members its annual patronage dividend on Dec. 3, amounting to $780,000.

The surge in new members at credit unions should lead to even more lending in 2013.

Credit unions added 740,000 new members in the third quarter of the year, a new quarterly record that easily puts CUs on pace for their best year ever, NCUA said.

CINCINNATI -- Cards processor Vantiv Inc. said Friday it expects to record a liability of up to $130 million in the fourth quarter in connection with a share-exchange agreement with Fifth Third Bancorp, its former parent.

DERBY LINE, Vt. – State regulators this afternoon shuttered tiny Border Lodge CU, a $3.4 million credit union located near the Canadian border that is the year’s 19th credit union failure.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Credit unions added 740,000 new members in the third quarter of the year, a new quarterly record that easily puts them on pace for their best year ever, NCUA reported this morning.

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. – Xceed Financial FCU announced this morning it is acquiring troubled Safeway Los Angeles FCU, a one-time $77 million credit union that has reported losses for five straight years.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – In another of what is expected to be record payouts for credit unions this year, ACIPCO FCU announced a $1.7 million interest rebate/dividend this morning, equating to 35%, to be paid December 15, in time for Christmas spending.

AUSTIN, Texas – EECU, the giant Fort Worth credit union, has applied to state regulators to acquire Fort Worth Telco CU, one of four troubled Texas credit unions that would be merged out.

OGDEN, Utah – Goldenwest CU is one of the first credit unions to announce a holiday bonus this year, with members due a bonus dividend of 4.35% APY.

Thanks to issues near (America’s “fiscal cliff”) and far (Europe’s debt bubble), the economy will go through three to five more years of “modest ups and downs.”