RALEIGH, N.C.-Lowering overdrafts to just a penny actually saved Coastal FCU money in 2010.

EL SERENO, Calif.-The marriage of a coffee shop with a branch of Cal State L.A. FCU is percolating just fine, according to the CU.

SAN ANTONIO-CUs have learned a difficult lesson about collections-many long-held practices simply don't work anymore.

SPOKANE, Wash.-About the only thing that has gone wrong in Global Credit Union's program to save its members money has been the goal-setting: it keeps beating the target amount and is forced to raise it.

HONOLULU-Hawaii State FCU continues to pull in new members through a microsite whose URL is the slogan of its membership acquisition campaign: "UR-eligible.com."

HARRISBURG, Penn.-With Pennsylvania CUs backing the iBelong cooperative advertising campaign for at least another year, the league is looking to add a Gen Y component.

PALO ALTO, Calif.-One of the biggest stories of 2010 was the largest credit union merger ever: Addison Avenue FCU, based here, and First Tech CU, Beaverton, Ore., are combining to become First Tech FCU on Jan. 1.

MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif.-The proposed merger of Kinecta FCU and NuVision FCU remains in the due diligence phase as 2010 comes to a close.

CU mergers are on pace to reach 175 for the year, Merger Solutions Group President David Bartoo said. Last year 229 deals were struck, following 242 in 2008.

BURLINGTON, Mass.-Consumer and CU interest in MoneyAisle's lending application has picked up significantly this year-but the same can't be said for its savings component.

VIENNA, Va.-Navy Federal Credit Union set an ambitious goal for 2010: hire 1,000 employees. The credit union giant not only met the goal, it nearly doubled it.

LAKE BLUFF, Ill.-The financial industry's Y2K scare of 2010-the projected, dramatic loss of revenue from the new overdraft rules-never came to be. In fact, financial institutions' revenue from overdraft protection is tracking to rise in the fourth quarter.

BURBANK, Calif.-Partners Federal Credit Union continued its aggressive, proactive search for more loans throughout 2010, and expects to extend its stance well into 2011.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla.-Credit unions did their part to support members affected by BP's oil spill along the Gulf Coast.

PALO ALTO, Calif.-Stanford FCU is benefitting from small business owners becoming more aware of credit unions as an alternative to banks.

CHESAPEAKE, Va.-Ask members what they'd do if they were CEO of their credit union for a day, and they might say they'd give themselves a little more money back.

LEXINGTON, Ky.-University of Kentucky FCU has cut courier charges in half, saved six staff hours a day, and eliminated empty envelope fraud by installing 13 image-enabled ATMs through an outsourcing agreement with Diebold.

SALT LAKE CITY-NCUA and state regulators last week shuttered Beehive CU and assigned the assets of the one-time $200-million credit union failure to Security Service FCU, the $6-billion San Antonio-based credit union, the latest Utah failure to be go to an out-of-state credit union.

BREWTON, Ala.-Brewton Mill FCU has doubled its membership in the last five years by moving out from the confines of its small office at the local paper mill.

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