SAN DIEGO – San Diego County Community CU has introduced live chat capabilities for its members.

RALEIGH, NC. – State Employees CU said its SECU Foundation will contribute $4 million to construction of the state’s Nature Research Center, a $54 million private-public partnership that will be part of the eco-friendly Green Square Project.

FORT WORTH, Texas – Custom Credit Systems announced new mobile capabilities for its CustomLender commercial loan product suite.

RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif. – CO-OP Financial Services is enhancing its My Deposit mobile deposit solution to allow credit unions to reach out to small business owners who want to electronically submit checks to their credit unions for deposit.

ST. LOUIS – The lone suspect in this summer’s spectacular heist at armored cash carrier ATM Solutions escaped overnight Sunday from the Lincoln County Jail, where he was being held on a federal weapons charge.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – NCUA agreed this morning in the face of industry pressure to extend its deadline for corporate business plans another 90 days, until March 31.

NEW YORK – A 26-foot tall ad touting “NCUA-safe” coverage of federal deposit insurance makes its debut in iconic Times Square this morning, part of the NCUA public awareness campaign for the National CU Share Insurance Fund.

PHOENIX-The need to achieve greater economies of scale, particularly in a state battered by the economy, helped the Arizona Credit Union League agree to merge with the Credit Union Association of Colorado and Credit Union Association of Wyoming, according to ACUL Chairman Bob Ramirez.

Hall Named 'Next Top CU Exec'

CHICAGO-Employees at credit unions everywhere are expected to pull their weight. But at Alliant CU, the job has also included pulling a 99-ton airplane.

RIVERSIDE, Calif.-Altura Credit Union continued funding its Allowance for Loan Losses in the third quarter, but with defaults trending down it is now counting on the conservative approach to pay off in 2011.

NCUA priced almost $5.4 billion of NCUA Guaranteed Bonds, by far the biggest of three offerings so far of the securities comprised of cash flows from failed corporate credit unions.

Financial institutions need part-time help to fix a big-time problem: branch costs disproportionate to a dwindling number of customer and member visits.

Virtually every CEO Credit Union Journal spoke with for this special report reported weak loan demand. When discussing their local marketplace conditions, most expressed relief that the worst appeared to be over, but there was little optimism for improvement any time soon.

ONTARIO, Calif.-While cautioning that he had not yet had the opportunity to review all third quarter Call Report data in detail, the California and Nevada's Daniel Penrod said the likelihood is Q3 numbers for credit unions in the two states will be "muted."

LAS VEGAS-As is the case with many credit unions across the country, posting lower losses in the third quarter of this year over previous quarters was not a reason to celebrate, but for Clark County CU, it was still worth noting.

LAS VEGAS-Three issues dominate the credit union lending space: a search for loan growth, portfolio problems and regulations. That was the message from Aaron Bresko, chair of the CUNA Lending Council.

LAS VEGAS-Credit unions continue to see strong demand for mortgages, especially from members looking to refinance existing loans, according to attendees at the CUNA Lending Council conference here.

LINCOLNWOOD, Ill.-CUNA board races are typically pretty straightforward, but not the race for the District 4 Class A board seat.

Tax Exemptions One Target Of Deficit Reduction Study