Corporate governance

WARMINSTER, Penn. – The $600-million Freedom Credit Union said it is reintroducing its most popular member benefit, the $25-$25 Refer-A-Member offer.

MANSFIELD, Texas – Texas Trust Credit Union has entered into a partnership with Dolphin Debit Access that it said will establish a branded-ATM presence in high-traffic areas.

HOUSTON – First Community CU aired a new TV ad campaign with a commercial featuring All-Pro NFL linebacker Brian Cushing, who is one of its members, during the Houston Texans’ first preseason game.

DUBUQUE, Iowa -- Dupaco Community CU will pick up four branches with a proposed merger of Iowa Community CU, an $85 million credit union in Cedar Falls.

LIVONIA, Mich. – Co-op Services CU will pick up four branches, including one-drive-thru, with the proposed combination of Rivers Edge Community CU, creating a $500 million credit union with 12 branches and 61,000 members in metro Detroit, the two credit unions announced this morning.

A new study indicates a big opportunity exists for credit unions to cross-sell new members, and that CUs have a great deal of room to improve profitability and performance in many operational areas.

The new report from Cornerstone Advisors has also discovered a great divide in CUs when it comes to IT.

The Mountain West CU Association is in the process of assembling a small credit union task force, making it the latest state league to revamp its programs aimed at assisting small CUs.

Credit union: know thyself. That is the message from Tony Ferris, managing partner for Rochdale Group, who said that as the 2014 strategic planning season nears, the CUs that are "truly making progress" in current market conditions are those that are taking a "hard look" at their own capabilities.

A cooperative business model brings CUs competitive advantages over banks when it comes to setting strategic direction, according to the Institute for Strategic Learning.

BROCKTON, Mass. – Crescent CU has applied to Massachusetts regulators to add Boston and surrounding Suffolk County and its 750,000 residents, plus five counties to its south in Rhode Island, to its field of membership.

HIGHLAND RANCH, Colo. – Red Rocks CU has applied to state regulators for a community charter serving 1.4 million residents of Arapahoe, Douglas and Jefferson counties.

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – Scott CU, located a 15-minute drive from St. Louis, announced a three-year partnership yesterday with the St. Louis Rams football team that includes TV and radio commercials, spots on the scoreboard at the Rams’ Raymond James Stadium and the Rams’ weekly TV show, a presence on the Rams’ website and a number of community events.

MENLO PARK, Calif. – Tyco FCU, the $103-million credit union for Tyco International, has changed its name to Reach FCU as an outreach to remote members.

GRANDVILLE, Mich. – First United FCU said it converted to a state charter and was granted a field of membership that encompasses 22 counties with a population of almost 2.6 million people, the latest in a growing number of FOM grants awarded by state regulators amounting to some of the broadest community charters ever awarded.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – KEMBA Federal Credit Union has been given approval to start serving people in Fairfield, Licking and Union counties.

DUBUQUE, Iowa – Alliant CU has formed an alliance with Ameriprise Financial and Leibfried & Associates, a local Ameriprise financial advisory practice, to provide financial planning and investment services for the credit union’s members.

ATLANTA – Credit unions looking to introduce a new technology or even themselves to a new market following expansion or a merger might want to take a cue from PNC Bank.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Pentagon FCU said it will start charging a $1 a month fee tomorrow for members who continue to pay their credit card bills by paper, as well as increase the year-old fee it charges for receiving consolidated account statements by paper to $1 from 50 cents a month.

TOWSON, Md. – In one of the biggest naming rights deal for a credit union, State Employees CU has agreed to pay $475,000 annually for ten years to have nearby Towson University, the second largest university in the state system, to rename its new 5,200-seat Tiger Arena the SECU Arena.