Corporate governance

FORT WAYNE, Ind. -- Fort Financial CU and Financial Members FCU, based in nearby Auburn, Ind., have received regulatory and membership approval to merge.

TAMPA, Fla. – GTE FCU, the $1.5 billion credit union chartered during the great Depression, is shedding the “credit union” in its name to become GTE Financial as part of a rebranding campaign.

WASHINGTON – The Treasury Department awarded almost $1 million yesterday to Native American groups to build two new credit unions on Indian reservations and to expand two others as part of its Native American CDFI Assistance program.

WASHINGTON – The Treasury Department awarded more than $17 million in grants to 25 credit unions and credit union organizations this afternoon under the 2012 round of the Community Development Financial Institutions Program.

Ben Psillas, president of Allpoint Network, noted that not only can a seamless integration help CUs reduce vendor costs and become more efficient, but also puts the institution in a better position to handle declining volumes of branch transactions.

Barb Kachelski, COO at the Credit Union Executives Society, said while CUs in recent years have focused internally on expense ratios and meeting the demands of regulators, now is the time to turn the focus outward.

"Many, many, many credit unions we talk to are concerned with the overall subject of 'replacement members,' and that means the younger generation," said Jerry Verdi, VP of market intelligence at Diebold.

With credit unions seemingly having little control over growing earnings pressures and shrinking margins, it's time the industry takes a systematic approach to product pricing.

Stan Hollen, CEO of CO-OP Financial Services, told Credit Union Journal that the recent recession has taught CUs that the organization must be nimble to react to the unexpected.

Mobile and P2P should be high, if not at the top, of this year's strategic planning topics, asserts Jim Park, CEO of Credit Union 24.

Fredda McDonald, EVP for the credit union experience at PSCU, says, "The time is now to invest, grow and prosper with solutions that will attract, engage and retain members."

"A discontinuance of interest on overnight funds will cause significant problems for many credit unions who currently hold extremely large investment portfolios and cash reserves," said Tony Ferris, managing partner for Rochdale Group

Cory Jefferies, VP of business development for SWBC, said credit unions "simply have to pay more attention to non-traditional credit union products."

Credit unions can learn a thing or two from regional and community banks when it comes to succession planning, and CUs should keep that in mind when it comes to planning for 2013 and beyond.

Credit unions should continue to look for ways to improve their data-mining capabilities as they head into 2013, while also working to capitalize on the current "daily deals" craze.

Mark Weber, president and CEO of Weber Marketing Group, said that as 2013 begins to draw near, the "opportunity window" to capitalize on consumers' big-bank frustration and broken trust may be closing.

EUGENE, Ore. -- Northwest Community CU has acquired a Portland branch with a deal for Portland’s $24 million UFCW Northwest CU.

LAKELAND, Fla. – MidFlorida CU, which has been growing its branch network on the Gulf Coast, has agreed to acquire Indian River CU, a troubled $55 million credit union on Florida’s other coast.

Many credit unions have built marketing campaigns around saving their members interest by bringing in loans from outside lenders, but Yolo Federal Credit Union has taken the concept to a new level.

TAMPA, Fla. – Grow Financial FCU has signed with consumer advocate S.E Day to provide its members car-buying advice.