PARCHMENT, Mich.-First Community FCU said it will return an estimated $200,000 to members as part of a three-month debit card campaign called "Skip the Fee, Swipe for FREE."

CHATSWORTH, Calif.-Matadors Community CU views its switch kit as a marketing tool, especially in light of the fees big banks are levying on their customers.

TUMWATER, Wash.-O Bee Credit Union is tapping into consumer discontent with banks by making them laugh, and then having a switch kit at the ready.

BATTLE CREEK, Mich.-OMNI Community CU is giving away $3,000 to drive new checking accounts, incent debit usage, and promote use of its switch service that's deepening relationships.

HARRISBURG, Penn.-One CU believes Bank Transfer Day is going to be such a big deal it's paying staff overtime to come in on Nov. 5.

SAN JOSE, Calif.-San Jose Credit Union plans to open its branches on Saturday, Nov. 5 to take advantage of "Bank Transfer Day."

SAN DIEGO-San Diego County Credit Union has two switch kits-one online and one featuring a concierge service-as it attempts to quickly build solid relationships.

RALEIGH, N.C.-As switch kits evolve away from paper packets and become more automated, one credit union is cautioning that if too much of the human touch is lost, the tool becomes ineffective.

TACOMA, Wash.-Add Sound Credit Union to the list of CUs that are benefitting from the fallout raining down on banks.

SLEEPY EYE, Minn.-SouthPoint FCU here may have won a Crystal Performance Award from Raddon and been recognized for its sales and service by CUNA's OpSS Council, but one area the CU could improve is its switch kit for new members.

HOOVER, Ala.-Four years into its switch kit and Alabama Telco still holds the same opinion about what makes the tool work-handling as much of the process as possible for the member.

LAKE MARY, Fla.-A number of analysts are concerned that credit unions in their rush to embrace Bank Transfer Day may end up having "transferred" numerous unprofitable new members.

MADISON, Wis.-Overall lending is down for credit unions as an industry, but some CUs are seeing strong loan growth.

WALL STREET-In joining the growing move to "Occupy Wall Street," Lower East Side People's FCU is finding it hard to avoid offending at least one powerful ally: giant investment bank Goldman Sachs, the credit union's sometime patron and partner that is a major target of the protestors.

Philip Van Mersbergen was named CEO for Community 1st CU, Ottumwa, Iowa.

ALEXANDRIA, Va.-Credit unions across the country are plunging into the red, trimming healthy net incomes or just staying above water as a result of NCUA's corporate credit union assessment.

PLYMOUTH, Minn.-A small group of members has a much better understanding of their credit union's inner workings after attending a "Behind the Scenes" day at TruStone Financial FCU here.

NCUA, UNION RENEGOTIATE,

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What's easy to forget a decade later is that Sept. 11 wasn't so much a day as an era; the panic and nervousness and uncertainty brought about by the terrorist attacks didn't just fade away as October 2011 rolled around. In the months following 9/11, I was reminded of how the concept of "standard operating procedures" became anything but in the final months of that year.