WESTLAND, Mich. – Wayne-Westland FCU here has become the temporary home for a 2,000-pound granite bench.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – A fake bomb was left behind during a robbery of a branch of ORNL FCU here.

BYNUM, Ala. – The board of AOD FCU here has voted not to continue the contract of CEO Richard Simonton, less than a year after hiring him to the position.

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. – Tradehill, Inc., an exchange for virtual currencies such as Bitcoin, has announced it is moving all customer accounts to Internet Archive FCU here.

DANVILLE, Ill. – The $5.7-million Danville Consolidated Credit Union here will be absorbed via merger by $65-million Landmark Credit Union on Sept. 3.

SOMERVILLE, Mass. – CPCU Credit Union is offering a Back to School Loan aimed at assisting parents, young adults and educators with costs associated with a new school year.

ST. LOUIS – Enterprise Car Sales reported it has seen a nearly 20% increase in used-car loan volume with its CU partners for the first six months of 2013 compared to the same time period in 2012.

GERMANTOWN, Md. – Mid-Atlantic FCU here has a beef with its community – specifically, 1,029 pounds of beef.

NEW YORK – Debit card rewards may survive in an era of regulated swipe fees, but they will have to be funded differently, according to some analysts.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Credit card issuers need to do a better job of explaining their rewards programs, according to a new survey that also indicates there is a big revenue opportunity in doing so.

The spectrum of gift cards provides a great deal of diversity. CUs need to tie the cards to a credit union account to foster mutually beneficial long-term relationships.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill.-- Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn has signed into law HB 2432, which means credit unions and other deployers of ATMs will no longer be required to display a physical sign disclosing ATM terminal fees.

WASHINGTON—NCUA now has three board members, with Richard Metsger taking the oath of office in a Capitol Hill ceremony this morning. NCUA General Counsel Michael McKenna administered the oath.

MADISON, Wis. – The National Credit Union Foundation has named Sarah Canepa Bang, president of CO-OP Shared Branching-FSCC, LLC, as the winner of the 2014 Herb Wegner Award for Individual Achievement.

MADISON, Wis. – CUNA Mutual Group reported its Smartphone Loan has accounted for $1 billion in loans made via mobile devices since it launched two years ago.

BOCA RATON, Fla. – IBM Southeast Employees FCU here has created a Web and social media campaign built around CUNA’s “Don’t Tax My CU” initiative.

SALEM, Ore. – Oregon Employees FCU has changed its name to Heritage Grove FCU.

COLUMBIA, S.C. and RALEIGH, N.C. – Affiliated credit unions in North and South Carolina have voted overwhelmingly to consolidate the South Carolina Credit Union League (SCCUL) and North Carolina Credit Union League (NCCUL) to create the Carolinas Credit Union League (CCUL), which begins operation on Jan. 1, 2014.

ITHACA, N.Y. – The Center for Transformative Action, an independent, nonprofit organization affiliated with Cornell University, is honoring Bill Myers, a former CU CEO who now heads up NCUA’s Office of Small Credit Union Initiatives, for his life’s work as a social entrepreneur by establishing a Social Entrepreneurship Scholarship in his name.

LIVONIA, Mich. – To help CUs boost auto lending, Invest in America is letting credit unions know in real-time when a member asks for a GM Credit Union Member Discount.