BIRMINGHAM, Ala.-Credit card rewards are ramping up, with some financials making the move at the expense of debit rewards while others simply seek ways to boost lending as the economy recovers. At the same time, many CUs that have sold their card portfolios are now looking to reenter the business.

New accounts — and loyalty from long-time patrons — go to the agile and innovative, and more often than ever before, it is the unique, automated and technology-driven services that make the difference.

You really have to admire the consistency of the bankers who, even while standing in the long shadow of massive bailout packages rivaling some countries' GDPs, and with a failure rate in recent years nearly five times higher than that of credit unions, have, along with their straw men, continued to keep beating the drum on the credit union tax exemption.

In this market, it has become inevitable that we all must look to expense management as a critical element of long-term strategic planning.

An item in the Daily Briefing on Western Bridge Corporate’s new name, United Resources FCU, incorrectly reported the number of credit unions the former WesCorp once served. That number is approximately 1,100.

SALT LAKE CITY – Mountain America CU partnered with the Utah Jazz and Huntsman Cancer Foundation to raise $23,350 for the Huntsman Cancer Foundation.

BAXTER, Minn. – Mid-Minnesota FCU is offering Credit Union Student Choice private student loans to its members.

OGDEN, Utah – Goldenwest CU said it launched an Android app that will allow its members to conduct many everyday account transactions with their personal mobile device.

SIOUX CITY, Neb. – Some lucky drivers are paying less for gas this week, thanks to Siouxland FCU.

LAS VEGAS – If 7,500 credit unions across the United States would get their members to contact their Congressional representatives, it would “help keep the pressure on” lawmakers and potentially halt implementation of the Durbin amendment to the Dodd-Frank Act.

LAS VEGAS – Nevada Federal Credit Union CEO Brad Beal delivered more than 8,700 member signatures to Harry Reid Thursday afternoon urging a delay in implementation of the Durbin amendment to the Dodd-Frank Act.

ATLANTA – Georgia United CU said it completed its merger with State Employees CU over the weekend, creating an $870 million credit union with 16 branches throughout the state.

RICHARDSON, Texas – NCUA decided to take over troubled Texans CU April 15 as the credit union giant’s undivided earnings, a key component in net worth, at $48.2 million a year ago, were almost completely depleted.

WASHINGTON – Regulators closed five more banks Friday, making a total of 39 failures so far this year.

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – Friday’s acquisition of failed Utah Central CU will give Chartway FCU 12 branches and a new foothold in Utah.

NEW YORK – Space Coast CU, which filed suit last week against Barclays Capital over CDOs the investment bank sold to Eastern Financial Florida CU, is expected to file similar suits over the next few weeks against other Wall Street banks in the 2009 failure of the one-time $2.4 billion credit union.

CHANTILLY, Va. – A jury awarded Online Resources Corp.’s former CEO Matthew Lawlor about $5.3 million in damages in an employment-related lawsuit filed by him, the company said Friday.

SALT LAKE CITY – Virginia’s Chartway FCU continued to carve out a major footprint here last night when NCUA liquidated Utah Central CU and assigned the remnants of the one-time $190 million failure to the Virginia Beach credit union giant.

GREENSBORO, N.C. – First Carolina Corporate CU said this morning it raised $60 million in new Perpetual Contributed Capital, the latest corporate to complete a successful recapitalization.

SAN FRANCISCO – Better Branches LLC, a technology CUSO owned by SAFE CU, has added two services to its Better Lobby product, called Referral and Cross-Sell Activity Tracking.