CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Altra FCU now has a bus wrapped in its brand colors of black and red.

ARNOLD, Mo. – Arsenal CU will obtain its first Illinois branch with a deal for Southern Illinois Area CU, an $8-million Swansea, Ill., credit union that has reported losses for six years in a row.

MADISON, Wis. – Heartland CU is picking up a new branch with the Aug. 1 merger of Kilowatt CU, a $23-million Madison credit union.

RALEIGH, N.C. – State Employees’ CU has signed an operating contract with Greater Kinston CU to provide full back-office support to help the $11-million credit union minimize operational expenses.

PHILADELPHIA – Freedom Credit Union is now paying a $25 bounty to members who refer new members – plus $25 to the new members – as part of its refer-a-friend rewards program.

MIAMI – Four major Wall Street banks, plus ratings agencies Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s Investors Services, last week told a federal court that Eastern Financial Florida CU was a “big boy” and knew full well the risks it was adopting when it invested in $150 million of ill-fated collateralized debt obligations, or CDOs, that helped sink the one-time $2.4-billion credit union in 2009.

MANCHESTER, N.H. – St. Mary’s Bank last week alerted its 116,000 members that a piece of malware that could be used to access personal information was discovered on several of the credit union’s computers.

ARLINGTON, Va. – As he prepares to exit the credit union movement to retirement in North Carolina, Fred Becker, who has led NAFCU for 13 years, worries about a number of trends in Washington, but none more than the growing reach of independent agencies such as NCUA that have few restrictions by the president, by Congress, or taxpayers – a so-called fourth branch of government.

SAN FRANCISCO – Four more credit unions being sued for patent infringement over real-time transaction technology have agreed to settle the civil claims in exchange for license deals, making a total of eight settling credit unions.

MADISON, Wis. – A former commercial loan officer at Consumers CU in Round Lake Beach, Ill, and at Fox River State Bank in Wisconsin, was sentenced in federal court yesterday to 35 months in prison for a loan scheme that siphoned almost $1.5 million from the two institutions.

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Pentagon FCU has opened a new branch serving the Clarksville and Fort Campbell communities in Clarksville.

FITCHBURG, Mass. – Workers’ CU has selected COCC as its provider of core processing software.

WASHINGTON – Long-term mortgage rates declined this week, from a two-year high last week, according to Freddie Mac.

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Technology CU this week announced it has closed a $3-million member business loan for residential construction to venture fund Menlo Capital.

LAS VEGAS – One Nevada CU, the state’s largest federally insured credit union that has been battered by the recession, reported a $2.3-million net for the second quarter and a $3.6-million net for the first six months of the year.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – The NCUA Board at next week’s meeting will review a request from San Francisco FCU to expand its community charter from serving the 810,000 residents of San Francisco County to also serve the 725,000 residents in San Mateo County to the south.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – NCUA Board Chairman Debbie Matz on Thursday said while she is pleased with macroeconomic developments and their positive effects on credit unions, she has several concerns.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – NCUA on Thursday announced a realignment of the agency’s regional supervision of federally insured credit unions in nine states, effective Jan. 1, 2014.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – The NCUA Board at next week’s monthly meeting will discuss proposed standards for assessing the diversity policies and practices of credit unions.

LAKEWOOD, Ohio – As authorities attempt to track down Alex Spirikaitis, former CEO of the failed Taupa Lithuanian CU wanted for embezzlement, two credit unions are reaching out to TLCU members stunned by this week’s developments.