EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State University FCU has awarded two graduating MSU seniors with $3,200 professional makeovers in its ninth-annual Graduate Makeover Contest.

SAN FRANCISCO – The Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco yesterday awarded $10 million in affordable-housing grants to 27 members, including $930,000 to five credit unions.

BREA, Calif. – Evangelical Christian CU on Tuesday said it signed with IntelliResponse to implement the company’s Virtual Agent technology to streamline its multi-channel member service capabilities.

WILMINGTON, Del. – A special tribunal rejected a request by a patent company and agreed to consolidate as many as 28 infringement suits brought against credit unions and banks, a move expected to reduce the temptation to settle the suits with expense licenses.

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Tech CU said it is offering a Global Members program that helps immigrant high-tech workers open a checking account and establish credit, buy a new car, or eventually purchase their first home.

STOCKTON, Calif. – Premier Community CU is piloting a new ATM developed by Diebold and CO-OP Financial Services that provides members with access to other credit union accounts or subaccounts, such as CDs and IRAs, as well as checking and savings.

RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif.–The subject of business change and risk will be hotly debated by industry leaders at CO-OP Financial Services THINK 13 Conference.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – NCUA this morning announced a $165 million settlement with Bank of America over claims that mortgage giant Countrywide, which BofA acquired in 2008, sold faulty mortgage-backed securities to failed corporate credit union giants U.S. Central FCU and WesCorp FCU.

WASHINGTON – Fannie Mae, the secondary mortgage market giant run under government conservatorship since September 2008, reported $7.6 billion in profits for the fourth quarter of 2012 and a record $17.2 billion for the year, the latest signal that the mortgage crisis is near an end.

An article in the April 1 CU Journal Daily Briefing on the merger between Apple FCU and Vantria FCU stated that Vantria had been troubled by “poor mortgage lending.” VFCU CEO Patricia Malatesta told Credit Union Journal regulators have not faulted its underwriting standards and processes, and that “no auditors or other reviewing bodies have found any evidence of poor underwriting.”

CLEVELAND – Police are investigating $20,000 of missing money at Civil Service Employees CU inside Cleveland City Hall.

CATAWBA, S.C. – Arrowpointe FCU has agreed to merge into it 1st Patriots FCU, a $30-million Rock Hill-based credit union that has reported losses each of the past four years.

AUSTIN, Texas – United Heritage CU has signed 97 Degrees West, a branding, marketing and digital firm, as its advertising agency of record.

RYE, N.Y. – USAlliance FCU said it has adopted the Micronotes’ Cross-Sell technology to strengthen member relationships and continue to grow its bottom line.

HONOLULU – A 69-year-old former employee of an armored car company was sentenced to eight months in prison and ordered to pay $107,000 in restitution to Lloyds of London for stealing as much as $164,000 from four Hickam FCU ATMs he was supposed to be filling with cash.

MAPLE GROVE, Minn. – TopLine FCU, a one-time Bell telephone employees’ credit union that has grown quickly over the past five years, on Monday said Harry Carter, its CEO since 1999, is retiring at year end from the $330-million credit union.

SALEM, Ore. – Monday marked the first day that 10 Oregon credit unions could take public deposits larger than $250,000.

WASHINGTON – Credit unions are calling foul on proposed federal guidelines that would, among other requirements, force credit unions to put proper consumer disclosures on all social media messages, cutting deeply into the allowable 140-character limit on Twitter, for example.

TUKWILA, Wash. – BECU has unveiled a new campaign on old media to promote its social media outreach – using TV, radio and billboards in the greater Seattle market to tout what its members are saying about the credit union on social media sites.

ENDICOTT, N.Y. – Visions FCU, the one-time IBM employees’ credit union, announced this afternoon that its longtime CEO Frank Berrish is retiring as head of the $3.2 billion credit union.