Credit unions

United Federal Credit Union's deal to merge with Lake Michigan Credit Union fell through, but it has acquired an executive from its larger rival.

There are good, bad and ugly stories about how marijuana entrepreneurs deal with taxes and other financial management issues while having little access to banking services.

Preparing for the inevitable future credit crisis by setting aside more loss reserves is a step toward avoiding government bailouts.

The top leaders of the National Credit Union Administration said this week that they support an alternative option that would allow credit unions to merge some operations — a prospect that is alarming banking industry representatives.

Instead of focusing on the effect of swipe fee rules on banks and credit unions, retailers should ask why the Durbin amendment hasn’t produced the promised cost savings for their consumers.

Cornerstone Community Credit Union in Des Moines, Iowa, has partnered with the online marketplace lender LendingPoint to provide loan products for its members that struggle to qualify for traditional financing.

The NCUA's decision to expand member business lending has sparked a renewed effort by banks to press lawmakers to eliminate credit unions' tax-exempt status. The NCUA's board meeting also ended with awkward acrimony between two of its own members.

Not only does evidence point to small banks escaping interchange restrictions — as Congress intended — but there are also signs smaller institutions are gaining retail market share because of the exemption.

The NCUA's plan to expand credit unions' business-lending powers generated more than 3,000 comment letters, mostly from bankers urging a "no" vote. But the agency's board is expected to stick by its original proposal.

Home equity portfolios have shrunk at banks, but credit unions and nonbank lenders like loanDepot helped fuel the surge in home equity lines last year.