FORT WAYNE, Ind. – Two former employees of Brandford-Scott Data Corp. were sentenced to probation after they pleaded guilty to tapping into the databases at two credit unions while working for the company, which maintains financial software for credit unions.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The California Department of Financial Institutions said Friday it raised the annual assessments on some 200 state chartered credit unions by 8.6%, to 75 cents per $1,000 of assets.

SAN FRANCISCO – Better Branches LLC, a CUSO specializing in indirect lending systems, announced the release of a Basic Contact Management solution for credit unions built on its Better WorkGroups platform.

BELLEVUE, Wash. – Qualstar CU and the FDIC are warning businesses that counterfeit official checks bearing the Qualstar name are in circulation.

NEWARK, N.J. – The president of Credit Union of Atlanta was shot and killed Saturday by an undercover sheriff's detective in Newark's Branch Brook Park.

BIDDEFORD, Maine – Ocean Communities CU has rolled out Kasasa Tunes, a free checking account designed for those with a passion for music and media that gives consumers free downloads from iTunes every month.

NEWARK, Del. – An immigrant couple from Kenya, the first Delaware recipients of a loan backed by last year’s stimulus bill, used a $250,000 loan from American Spirit FCU to open their own beauty supply shop.

WASHINGTON – Regulators closed six more banks Friday, including three in Florida, two in South Carolina and one in Michigan, making 96 bank failures so far in 2010.

WASHINGTON – Harvard law professor Elizabeth Warren, a longtime consumer advocate and some-time critic of credit unions and banks, is widely seen as the frontrunner to be the first director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau the new bank reform bill will create inside the Federal Reserve.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – NCUA already has begun analyzing the more than 2,300 pages of the bank reform bill in preparation for the numerous provisions that will have to be adopted for credit unions, including those covering the permanent increase in deposit insurance coverage, executive compensation, remittance transfers and appeals of conflicting supervisory determinations on consumer protection.

LAKE BLUFF, Ill. – A new study raises an important question for cash-strapped credit union members: is it more economical to pay the fee for overdrawing a savings account or taking out a small short-term, or payday, loan?

NEW LONDON, Conn. – Members of defunct New London Security FCU have filed suit against former directors and officers and the brokerage for the one-time $13 million credit union, claiming they were induced to deposits their funds by a multi-million dollar Ponzi scheme perpetrated by the credit union’s investment advisor, who leaped to his death as authorities were closing in.

VIENNA, Va. – Navy FCU is opening its sixth branch in the Pensacola market and 182nd overall next Monday.

ATLANTA – Delta Community CU opened its first branch in the town of Gainesville, the $3.6 billion credit union’s 20th in the Atlanta market.

SAN DIEGO – San Diego County CU announced it has hired Teresa Halleck, who has headed The Golden 1 CU, California’s largest credit union, the past eight years, as president and CEO of the $4.1 billion credit union.

SALT LAKE CITY – Mountain America CU presented a check for $100,000 to Primary Children’s Medical Center at its annual Telethon.

PHILADELPHIA – University of Pennsylvania FCU has signed with Skyline’s DirectFED to implement the company’s Remote Deposit Capture system.

PORT NECHES, Texas – MCT CU is the latest credit union to roll out Kasasa rewards-based savings and checking accounts.

PANAMA CITY, Fla. – Tyndall FCU announced yesterday it has contracted with CoreTrac, Inc. to install the company’s ResourceOne CRM/Sales Force Automation solution.

WASHINGTON – Long-term mortgage rates remained at their lowest levels in five decades this week, according to Freddie Mac.