LATHRUP VILLAGE, Mich.-To get ahead of banks' re-entry into small business lending, Michigan First CU has launched a robust online business banking site to double its business lending portfolio by the end of the year.

TAMPA, Fla.-Putting a new spin on the old concept of wealth-management services, Members Trust Co. has introduced the Private Member Advisor, a program to help CUs build deeper relationships with more affluent members, including many who recently joined after leaving their bank.

Wanna-be fraudsters are just an Internet connection away from downloading free, effective hacking tools from criminal websites and file-sharing programs. Security experts outlined five do-it-yourself hacking tools that can pack a punch against CUs and members.

WEST JORDAN, Utah-Imagine sifting through 1,000 red flags before you find one financial transaction that is actually fraudulent. That's what Mountain America Credit Union (MACU) here was trying to do every couple days, until it switched out fraud detection systems in July.

BROCKTON, Mass.-HarborOne CU's new CTO sings an uncommon chantey: integrate, integrate, integrate. It's a tune HarborOne will hear again and again during its three-year sea change in technology, according to Wayne Dunn, SVP and CTO at the $1.8-billion CU.

VIENNA, Va.-Navy FCU here has the technology it needs to send automated responses to the 34,000 e-mails and social networking posts it sees every month. But when it comes to social sites like Twitter, the CU chooses to respond by hand.

Visual ATM Locator Launched

LEXINGTON, Ky.-Members are saying "yes" to courtesy pay by opting-in online at credit union websites, giving CUs hope that overdraft revenue will remain intact even after the Fed's Regulation E (Reg E) takes effect.

FICS Implements Mortgage Solution

ROCKVILLE, Md.-An Apple iPod digital music player can download 160 gigabytes of data. Each database at Energy Federal Credit Union here contains up to five gigabytes of confidential member data. Put the 160 and the five together, and you've got a potential data breach.

TESTIMONY BRINGS MICA'S CUNA CAREER FULL CIRCLE

U.S. MORTGAGE FRAUD PLEAS ON TAP

Ward Wins Pro Of The Year Award

Eaton Family CU, Willoughby Hills, Ohio, hosted a financial workshop called

MSU FCU, East Lansing, Mich., promoted William Hagen to Network System Manager, elevated Judy Lynch to manager of IT operations and bumped Laura Hosey up to Consumer Loan Quality Assurance Manager.

More Losses Recorded, Higher Assessment Likely

OAKLAND, Calif.-In an experiment being watched by credit unions across the country, North Carolina's Center for Community Self-Help is building a community development credit union in California funded by secondary capital provided by one of its affiliates, the Self-Help Ventures Fund.

In response to Henry Wirz's May 3 column in Credit Union Journal, "One Option to Consider: No Corporates At All," I agree with his statement that a future without corporates would be a bad thing. But I disagree with his view that smaller corporates, because of their size, provide less value to credit unions.

Ignoring new technological tools only limits the opportunities to operate with maximum efficiency, and therefore increases the likelihood that if a CU weathers the current financial storm, it will by no means be a viable competitor when the market stabilizes.

For credit unions in need of submitting HMDA data immediately, the following tips could greatly increase their chances of avoiding hefty fines and penalties.