Corporate governance

BALTIMORE—Municipal Employees CU of Baltimore has moved one step closer to acquiring Baltimore-based Advance Bank, as NCUA yesterday approved the deal.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – State regulators have awarded Peoples CU a broad community charter expansion covering almost 3 million residents in greater Miami.

ST. JOSEPH, Mich. – Honor CU has agreed to acquire SIR FCU, an $80-million credit union with three locations in the Upper Peninsula: Negaunee, Marquette, and Gwinn.

HIGHLAND RANCH, Colo. – State regulators on Friday approved an application from Red Rocks CU for a community charter serving a sprawling field of membership covering 1.4 million residents of Arapahoe, Douglas and Jefferson counties.

INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana Members CU last week rolled out its new local television advertising campaign “Why Go Anywhere Else,” featuring former Indianapolis Colts player Gary Brackett.

LANSING, Mich. – Credit unions throughout Michigan will participate in a “cash mob” Tuesday, offering coupons and other financial inducements for consumers to shop locally as part of their celebration of International Credit Union Week.

FAIRBORN, Ohio – Wright-Patt CU has picked five families to compete in its eight-month Savings Race, with this year’s contest – the Health & Financial Fitness Edition – dedicated to teaching contestants how to become healthier both physically and financially.

WICHITA, Kan. – Kansas credit unions, including seven in the Wichita area, gave away cash and gift cards yesterday, part of a “cash mob” staged as part of International Credit Union Month.

CHICAGO – Great Lakes CU will pick up a branch in nearby Willow Springs with the acquisition of Chicagoland Electrical Industry CU, a struggling one-time $22-million credit union.

MADISON, Wis. – The Filene Research Institute’s i3 innovations program has proposed nine new ideas, including a national network that helps credit unions sell repossessed cars, a web application to track milestones for homebuyers and a mobile app that helps members determine the future value of their savings for retirement planning.

The latest bank to be acquired by a CU says it agreed to the deal to bring a new financial choice to this town-which is the same reason the credit union made the offer in the first place.

For many credit unions, growing members, revenue and service levels can feel like a daily mountain climb. A company that specializes in gear for such climbs-along with camping, paddling and more-is offering advice on making that hike easier.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – MIT FCU, the credit union for Massachusetts Institute of Technology employees, has hired national branding and design firm Corey McPherson Nash to develop a brand strategy stretching across the $385-million credit union’s multiple channels.

ANN ARBOR, Mich.—A “cash mob”-style initiative that began last year in Michigan has spread to Louisiana and Ohio.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.—The price tag for new technology can be high, but savvy credit unions are finding ways to remain on the leading edge of financial services delivery without breaking their IT budgets.

JACKSON, Miss. – HOPE CU is offering free members and financial counseling to African-American recipients of the $1.2-billion Black Farmers Discrimination lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which is being distributed in payments of $50,000 by the federal government to 7,500 claimants in the midSouth.

Credit unions should be offering more insurance and investment services and need to do a better job making members aware of these offerings.

BOSTON – IC Federal Credit Union took a top prize at the New England Financial Marketing Association awards last week for its recent YouTube Gen Y campaign.

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif.—Big banks are now holding the line on free checking. After a steep decline in the percentage of free checking accounts, 38% of checking accounts offered by major banks are free, down just one percentage point from last year, according to Bankrate.com’s 2013 Checking Survey.

CHICAGO – The Center for Financial Innovations announced this morning it has awarded the National Federation of Community CUs $530,000 to fund three partnerships between credit unions and nonprofit organizations to integrate credit union products into social services delivery for low-income and underserved consumers.