Corporate governance

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.-Credit unions have three big growth opportunities in 2011, according to PSCU Financial Services.

LANCASTER, Penn. – United People’s FCU, a 25-year-old credit union chartered to serve employees of St. Joseph Hospital, was granted a trade, industry or profession-wide charter to serve all health care employees in Lancaster County, NCUA reported yesterday.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Framingham Municipal FCU was approved to expand its field of membership to serve almost 700,000 residents in 30 communities west of Boston.

SLEEPY EYE, Minn.-SouthPoint FCU ranks at the very top of its peer group for cross selling, and the credit union says it owes that good fortune to not paying employee incentives.

LAUREL, Md. — While interchange rules have created debate around potential shifts in checking account marketshare, Tower FCU here continues to see strong response to an offer that pays up to $125 to new members.

Juxtaposed, U.S. Bancorp and Wells Fargo's 4Q reports suggested the banks most likely to grow business loans fastest are those simply most willing to offer more favorable rates.

SEATTLE-Starbucks Corp.'s Grande-sized mobile payments trial has gone Venti. The Seattle coffee chain last week said it has expanded its smartphone payment system to include about 6,800 company-operated stores after piloting the technology for more than a year.

DALLAS-Credit unions have shown in recent months that mortgage lending is a potential area for growth, but Angela Calvert warns CUs to tread carefully.

MADISON, Wis.-In 2011, credit unions will need to prudently take more lending risks and price that risk appropriately.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla.-The old CU adage that you can "make it up with volume" is actually true when it comes to debit revenue in 2011.

RIVERWOODS, Ill.-For Kevin O'Donnell, finding a growth opportunity in 2011 means looking no further than the fact fewer than one in three members carry a credit card from their CU.

Becoming more efficient, installing up-to-date technology and reducing fraud all will be priorities for credit unions that seek to grow in 2011, but Eric Porter of CO-OP Financial Services says the most important is taking advantage of banks' current weakness.

MADISON, Wis.-Credit unions will continue to grow-but at a slower pace if they do not obtain continuing education for directors, and lending staff when the CU seeks to enter into or expand business lending.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.-Credit unions this year may find overall growth a challenge, but targeted growth can be accomplished even in tough times, insists Dennis Dollar.

BROOKFIELD, Wis.-This is the year in which if credit unions are to grow, they will need to find that growth internally, predicts Fiserv, which recommends stronger data-mining and relationship-building tools to get the job done.

PLEASANTON, Calif.-With shrinking capital a concern for many credit unions, growth opportunities should also drive greater efficiency to preserve the bottom line, stressed Sam Kilmer.

LINDEN, N.J. — Budget constraints dictate that CU expansion will shift toward online channels as opposed to branches, but one person is emphasizing CUs must also budget for marketing and training resources in order for those electronic services to pack a real punch.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.-Credit unions will have to fine tune risk-based lending in 2011, because loan growth opportunity is with less-than-perfect paper.

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.-In the automotive remarketing and recovery sectors, there are a number of new opportunities for credit unions to grow beyond the traditional methods CUs have deployed for selling and marketing used vehicles.

SHELTON, Conn.-With 10,000 Baby Boomers turning 65 every day, CUs can drive growth by becoming the trusted financial partner for individuals heading into retirement.