RIVERWOODS, Ill. – Card company Discover Financial Services agreed last week to acquire the mortgage loan business of Tree.com, formerly called LendingTree.com, adding a residential mortgage component to Discover's direct-to-consumer banking business.

BATON ROUGE, La. — A former loan officer at the East Baton Rouge Teachers FCU was sentenced last week to eight years in prison for fraud and money laundering for a $150,000 embezzlement scheme.

SAN FRANCISCO – American Airlines FCU joined the “greening” effort at San Francisco International Airport by opening a new branch at Terminal 2 Lower Level, Baggage Claim.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Notre Dame FCU has signed with SkillSurvey to implement the company’s Pre-Hire 360 employee candidate tool.

SPRING VALLEY, N.Y. – The former CEO of Rockland Employees FCU pleaded guilty Friday to bank fraud for stealing about $150,000 from the credit union from 2000 to 2006.

ONTARIO, Calif. – CU Direct announced two new features last week that will allow credit union members to apply for a loan or sell their car using an new iPhone app.

NORWALK, Conn. – The Financial Accounting Standards Board issued new rules last week to update how companies account for repurchase agreements like the kind Lehman Brothers used to temporarily move billion of dollars of assets temporarily off its books and hide how much debt it had just before reporting its quarterly results.

WASHINGTON – The Department of Justice filed an antitrust suit last week to stop VeriFone from acquiring Hypercom because it would eliminate one of only three competitors in the manufacture of the ubiquitous point-of-sale payments terminals.

SKOPJE, Macedonia – U.S. authorities are working through legal channels for the return of millions of dollars of loan proceeds from St. Paul Croatian FCU they believe was siphoned from the one-time $240 million credit union to local banks as part of the biggest credit union fraud ever.

CLEVELAND – Seven more people were indicted this morning in connection with a massive loan fraud that sunk St. Paul Croatian FCU, a one-time $240 million credit union, last year.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Credit Union 24 said yesterday it is partnering with Alliance One, a surcharge-free ATM network managed by Corporate One FCU, to expand ATM/POS and surcharge-free access for participants of their respective programs.

PORTSMOUTH, Va. – Northern Star CU is offering members Kasasa Tunes checking, which rewards consumers with digital downloads from iTunes or Amazon.com every month.

RALEIGH, N.C. – State Employees’ CU, in partnership with the State Employees Association of North Carolina, is offering discounted theme park tickets this summer.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Pioneer West Virginia FCU has agreed to merge into it THE-MAC FCU, a one-time $10 million credit union with a declining book of business.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Bell FCU (formerly Sioux Falls FCU) and Midwest Partners FCU – two credit unions across the street from each other – have agreed to merge, creating a $65 million credit union serving 9,000 members.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The Golden 1 CU said yesterday it has implemented CoreTrac’s ResourceOne CRM solution to enhance sales, marketing, and member service effectiveness.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – NCUA said yesterday it banned Vicki Lynn Weidenhof, former chief financial officer of ALPS FCU, for stealing $187,000 from the Sitka, Alaska, credit union.

WASHINGTON – Mortgage rates declined this week for the fourth week in a row, to their lowest point since December, according to Freddie Mac.

AUSTIN, Texas – A+ FCU awarded six small business owners no interest $25,000 member business loans as part of a “myBusiness” challenge.

WASHINGTON – A federal judge gave Vensure FCU and NCUA two weeks to file their arguments over the April 15 seizure of the tiny credit union embroiled in an international gambling scandal, but by then it may be too late as the credit union is hurtling toward insolvency.