WASHINGTON -- Average mortgage rates in the U.S. rose over the past week, though fixed rates remained near historic lows, according to Freddie Mac.

CHARLSTON, W,V. – CUMIS Insurance Society filed suit yesterday against a one-time temporary employee at South Charleston Employees FCU it says withdrew $104,000 from two members’ accounts while she was working at the credit union.

NEW YORK -- The American Booksellers Association announced yesterday that it is joining the National Association of Convenience Stores, the National Retail Federation, the Retail Industry Leaders Association, and other merchant groups opposing the proposed $7.25 billion settlement of a federal antitrust lawsuit over Visa and MasterCard credit card swipe fees.

FAIRFAX, Va. – FedComp announced it is switching all 130 of its VirtualCU credit union clients to Database Management Services’ HomeCU product.

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. -- For Redstone FCU, part of the new competitive strategy is to actually sell its own technology expertise, through Open Solutions Inc.’s DNA online apps store.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – The NCUA Board is scheduled to vote next week on one of the broadest community charters before it for the past few years, a request by BMI FCU to serve about two million residents in the greater Columbus, Ohio, area, the state capital.

WASHINGTON – Credit union executives were so impressed by the latest innovations and ideas presented at the annual BAI Retail Delivery Conference this week that many were already budgeting to make purchases and implement new cutting-edge technologies on display here.

NORWALK, Conn. – Credit union executives are calling on the Financial Accounting Standards Board to exempt credit unions from a proposed rule aimed at helping public investors, which would require a variety of new disclosures on interest rate and liquidity risk from financial institutions.

SANTA ROSA, Calif. – Redwood CU has donated $95,000 to the United Way’s workplace giving campaign.

SHREVEPORT, La. – Shreveport FCU collaborated with the City of Shreveport Department of Community Development on the new Jewella Whitehouse Financial and Business Empowerment Center, which opened here last week.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- A man and woman accomplice agreed to plead guilty to siphoning $170,000 from State Department FCU through a phony ATM deposit scheme.

PHILADELPHIA – Sb1 FCU, the one-time SmithKline Laboratories credit union that recently converted to a community charter, opened a new branch in the Philadelphia Navy Yard.

RYE, N.Y. – USAlliance FCU has implemented NCR's cross-channel marketing software APTRA eMarketing to help improve its marketing communications to its 40,000 members.

GROTON, Conn. – Scient FCU, the Pfizer Corp. credit union known till recently as Ledge Light FCU, has signed with Online Resources Corp. to implement the company’s Architect digital banking solution and bill payment services.

MEMPHIS -- Police are looking for the two armed men who they say tried to rob a woman at an Orion FCU ATM Tuesday night, and then shot her as she tried to get away, forcing her into a fatal crash with a utility pole.

WASHINGTON – A federal magistrate ruled that NCUA Board members Debbie Matz and Gigi Hyland need not testify in the suit against top WesCorp FCU executives, but approved a bid by the WesCorp figures to depose the one-time chief corporate examiner and the agency’s two on-site examiners.

WASHINGTON – From the latest technology for ATMs to mobile banking and remote deposit capture, more than 300 credit union executives marveled like kids in a candy store at the offerings at this year’s annual BAI Retail Delivery Conference here where more than 1,000 companies are showing their wares.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The Golden 1 CU announced this afternoon it hired Pete Snyder, its former vice president for financial services who later built the investment services CUSO at Addison Avenue FCU to one of the leading CUSOs in the country, to head the investment and insurance departments at the $8 billion credit union.

ST. LOUIS -- Anheuser-Busch Employees' CU has deployed NCR APTRA Passport software for mobile, enabling members to use their mobile device cameras to scan and safely deposit checks while at home or on the go.

HONOLULU – A 68-year-old employee of an armored car company has agreed to plead guilty to stealing as much as $164,000 from four Hickam FCU ATMs he was supposed to be filling with cash.