Corporate governance

RALEIGH, N.C. – State Employees’ CU, which added $3.2 million in savings during last year’s North Carolina Financial Literacy for Youth Month, is hoping to top that amount this year with help from a new super hero during National Credit Union Youth Week, April 23-27.

BRAINTREE, Mass. – Tremont CU, which serves residents of greater Boston and more than 200 select groups, was approved by the Massachusetts Department of Banking to add more than 100,000 members of the Massachusetts Fisherman’s Partnership Inc., which consists of 20 subsidiary member organizations.

BOSTON – Mass Bay CU, a 76-year-old credit union originally chartered to serve the Boston Elevated Train Co., then the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority, was approved by state regulators to serve a board swath covering 1.5 million people surrounding Boston, in Suffolk and Norfolk counties.

ABERDEEN, Md. – Aberdeen Proving Ground FCU paid two members $100 Visa gift cards as part of its “Refer a Friend” contest.

CHATSWORTH, Calif. – Premier America CU has signed with SaveDaily to offer its members the ability to invest in the company’s proprietary mutual fund program.

BEL AIR, Md. – Freedom FCU has signed with the Harford County Education Association to provide financial services and benefits for the local teachers union’s 2,070 members.

TOLLAND, Conn. — More than nine-in-10 members who visit their credit union's website immediately go to online banking or bill pay.

HARRISBURG, Penn. – Pennsylvania State Employees CU, which has been providing its checking account members with free FICO credit scores the past two years, will be offering the popular service over its mobile banking channels within the next two weeks.

CHANTILLY, Va. – Justice FCU, the credit union serving the U.S. Department of Justice, announced plans to open branches in Chicago and Miami in an effort to live up to its motto, “Serving Justice Across the Nation.”

Wendy Lokken, CEO of Lasertec, believes it is more important than ever for credit unions to 'go green' by utilizing all-electronic marketing.

David Foss, President of ProfitStars, is concerned that while more credit unions are choosing to spend money, the investments being made are not all driving the bottom line.

Against the backdrop of improving ratios, Sam Kilmer sees a bottom-line opportunity from investments in loan origination and member relationship management systems.

Credit unions are seeing the economic value of investing in advanced currency, check and coin processing technologies as a way to boost their bottom lines.

There isn't a better way to drive the bottom line today than member business lending, as long as you do it carefully and with the right resources.

Investments in real-time fraud management tools are seeing a strong payback, according to CO-OP Financial Services.

More credit unions are now placing their branding on existing ATMs to extend their reach without investing in new machines.

In at least one scenario, for many credit unions the bottom line is increasingly about letting someone else carry the burden.

Perhaps the biggest news when it comes to making investments to improve the bottom line is that more CUs are actually doing it.

The economy may be improving and several CFOs indicated their credit unions are seeing double-digit loan increases, but that hasn't lessened the importance of managing margin.

After two years of focusing on cost cutting and expense management, credit unions are beginning to invest again in ambitious, long-term projects aimed at both better serving members and enhancing the bottom line.