KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A federal judge last week approved a $2.6 million class action settlement against Kansas Teachers Community CU in which borrowers claim loans they obtained through the credit union’s participation in the Centrix Financial indirect loan program violated the state’s Uniform Commercial Code and Merchandising Practices Act, resulting in the repossession of their vehicles.

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Technology CU has introduced a new program aimed at providing financial services high tech workers who have recently come to Silicon Valley and foreign nationals who have established residency or gained citizenship.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Credit union executives are worried an accounting proposal by NCUA that would require credit unions deduct “bargain purchase gain” in mergers of troubled credit unions will have the opposite of its desired effect and instead discourage such credit union combinations.

SEATTLE – Regulators have approved the merger of Watermark CU and Sound CU, creating a $1.1 billion credit union serving 120,000 members through the state of Washington.

PASADENA, Calif. – Wescom Central CU said this morning its Wescom Resources Group has signed with PayPal to offer Person-2-Person payment services to credit unions.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Credit Union Journal is now accepting entries for its 2011 Best Practices Awards.

SALEM, Mass. – A man who told police he needed money to pay bills so he robbed three downtown institutions – including Brotherhood CU on his birthday – was sentenced this week to up to three years in prison.

MINNEAPOLIS – FICO said its FICO Labs team has been awarded four new patents by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, including one for technology that mines transaction data for predictive trends.

CHAMBERSBURG, Penn. – Members 1st FCU’s annual golf tournament last week at The Links At Gettysburg raised $30,000 for three local non-profits.

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – BayPort CU awarded more than $50,000 in scholarship money to 20 of the region’s deserving academic achievers.

HERNDON, Va. – Northwest FCU is bringing financial education to local elementary schools through an interactive school assembly featuring the credit union’s children’s book, Westie’s Triple Decker Decision.

SANTA ANA, Calif. – Orange County’s CU is offering members a $50 reward for opening new accounts and an additional $50 for referring new members as part of a new branch opening in Lake Forest.

LOS ANGELES – SCE FCU, formerly known as Southern California Edison Federal Credit Union, has chosen PCGCampbell to handle public and media relations.

KAHULUI, Hawaii – Valley Isle Community FCU said yesterday it has agreed to absorb Kulia Ohana FCU, creating the Hawaiian island’s second-largest credit union with $103 million in assets.

WEBSTER, Mass. – Webster First FCU, one of the biggest credit unions in western Massachusetts, said yesterday it is expanding to the eastern part of the state with a deal to acquire troubled Saugus FCU, a one-time $68 million credit union in Boston’s northern suburbs.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – NCUA reported yesterday last fall’s three corporate credit union failures – of Southwest Corporate FCU, Members United Corporate FCU and Constitution Corporate FCU – are expected to bring losses of $1.5 billion after the final toll.

CINCINNATI – A federal appeals court yesterday upheld a $7.7 million award to Michigan First CU against CUMIS Insurance Society for losses caused by credit union employees who blatantly disregarded approval policies for indirect auto loans.

RALEIGH, N.C. – State Employees’ CU announced this morning it is eliminating the common practice of garnishing wages to collect on delinquent loans, one of the first credit unions in the nation to adopt the policy.

DULUTH, Ga. – VSoft, the provider of the popular remote deposit capture technology, announced this morning it is partnering with Mitek Systems to provide Mitek’s patented Mobile Deposit to financial institutions leveraging VSoft’s Agile Mobile Capture solution.

NEW YORK – A federal court approved a $410 payment by Bank of America Corp to settle lawsuits accusing it of charging excessive overdraft fees to roughly 1 million customers.