COLUMBUS, Ohio – Corporate One FCU has expanded its relationship with Jack Henry & Associates’ ProfitStars and will now offer ProfitStars client credit unions the ability to process electronic payment transactions through Corporate One, including merchant and consumer remote deposit capture transactions, check conversion, and Check 21 settlement options.

FAIRLAWN, Ohio – Towpath Community CU said it has agreed to merge with Towpath CU in nearby Akron to create a $119 million credit union serving 21,000 members.

MOON TOWNSHIP, Penn. – Clearview FCU said yesterday it completed the merger of A-K Valley FCU, a $60 million credit union in nearby Lower Burrell.

YAKIMA, Wash. – Yakima Valley CU and Catholic CU said yesterday regulators have approved the combination of the two credit unions to create a regional credit union with more than $470 million in assets and 50,000 members.

WASHINGTON – Home loan rates rose across the board this week, according to Freddie Mac.

SOUTHFIELD, Mich. – CenCorp CU said yesterday it received commitments from 90% of its more than 300 members for perpetual contributed capital, raising $80 million in new capital.

MISSOULA, Mont. – A former teller at Whitefish CU was sentenced yesterday to two-and-a-half years behind bars after pleading guilty to embezzling nearly $677,000 from the credit union’s Poulson branch over a decade.

DALLAS – A former executive of Texans CU sued the credit union this week, claiming he is owed more than $1.89 million under a deferred compensation plan.

LONDON – Serverside Group Ltd. said yesterday its patent for card customization, which it claims is being infringed upon by dozens of U.S. credit unions and banks, was maintained in an oral hearing by the European Patent Office.

TUKWILA, Wash. – BECU announced this afternoon that its wholly owned BECU Trust Co. is merging into credit union-owned MEMBERS Trust Co. to form the largest CUSO for trust services, with some $865 million under management.

WASHINGTON – Consumer advocates and bankers both called on Congress this morning to set national guidelines on mortgage servicing to help resolve millions of pending home foreclosures.

LIVONIA, Mich. – Co-op Services Credit Union granted a total of $14,000 in scholarships to seven graduating high school seniors.

LINO LAKES, Minn. – Core processor Sharetec Systems said yesterday it is teaming with Geezeo to offer Geezeo’s personal financial management solution to its 300 credit union clients.

KEY WEST, Fla. – Police on Tuesday arrested one of their own, a former officer, for the armed robbery at KEYS FCU earlier that afternoon.

JACKSON, Mich. – In the spirit of “American Idol,” 10 teenagers will compete for fame and prizes this weekend in the American 1 CU Teen Idol contest.

AUSTIN, Texas – Amplify FCU will be rewarding three deserving families with much needed home repairs over the next two months.

FRESNO, Calif. – A former member service representative at Kern Schools FCU on Tuesday was sentenced to a year behind bars for a phony loan scheme that siphoned more than $245,000 from the credit union.

WASHINGTON – Federal housing regulators on Wednesday said they are lowering the conforming loan limit for jumbo loans – the maximum loan they will buy from lenders – by almost 17%.

WASHINGTON – A group of mom-and-pop inventors, including the man who holds the patent on major Check 21 technology, is lobbying Congress in a last-ditch effort to knock a provision out of a pending patent reform bill that would re-engage the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in previously resolved patent disputes.

CAPITOLA, Calif. – Bay FCU employees raised $24,451 to help defer the hospitalization and health care costs of local children through the Children’s Miracle Network.