SAN BERNARDINO, Calif.-Alaska USA FCU, which entered the California market last year by acquiring two failed credit unions, is looking to expand its California network and is reported to be negotiating to buy as many as five branches from ailing Arrowhead Central CU.

GAINESVILLE, Fla.-A new credit decision model from Lending Solutions, Inc. (LSI) is helping two CUs navigate the difficult underwriting environment.

PORTLAND, Ore.-OnPoint Community CU, founded to serve teachers, will reward one "innovative educators" with a year of paid mortgage as part of its "OnPoint Prize for Excellence in Education" contest.

CSCU Announces Line-Up of Presenters

March

BURBANK, Calif.-An aggressive stance to both new loans and loss mitigation has helped Partners FCU here continue to boost lending.

HOUSTON-Just 12 days into offering a new "family card," Texas Dow Employees CU has taken $1.4 million in transfers and expects it to bring in $3 million total given that early success.

eDOC CUSO Joins ECCHO

WASHINGTON-In a unusual political situation, two of the three credit union giants that would come under the new Consumer Financial Protection Agency are saying they are OK with that, even while the two credit union lobby groups, CUNA and NAFCU, are committed to fighting Congress to exempt them from the scheme.

ALEXANDRIA, Va.-NCUA said it paid the U.S. Treasury $210 million last month as the first installment on a $1-billion NCUA capital note lended to U.S. Central FCU a year ago to help stabilize the central bank for credit unions.

ALEXANDRIA, Va.-NCUA Chairman Debbie Matz last week hired Christopher Colford, a former journalist for the Cleveland Plain Dealer and veteran Washington hand, as a speech writer and senior advisor for communications.

ALEXANDRIA, Va.-NCUA approved a charter for a new community development credit union for this city, to be called Inspire Community Development FCU.

WASHINGTON-Regulators took over four more banks in New York, Florida and Louisiana last week, making a total of 32 bank failures so far this year.

Michele Hoppenstedt has joined the Supervisory Committee at Insight Financial, Orlando, Fla.

CHALMETTE, La.-Discount retail giant Wal-Mart opened its 1,000th in-store Wal-Mart Money Center last week, and announced plans to open another 500 of the bank-like branches this year. Wal-Mart unsuccessfully applied for a bank charter in 2007, and therefore cannot make loans or accept deposits in the branches, but that didn't stop the retailer from creating something akin to a bank branch with The Money Center.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.-Ent FCU has launched its first free iPhone application, an Ent Service Center and ATM Location Finder, on iTunes.

NEW YORK-Lower East Side People's FCU was awarded $60,000 in funding from the Trinity Grants Program, which the community development credit union will use to provide loss reserves for small business loans in the Lower East Side and Central Harlem in order to create new jobs and retain existing jobs.

RIVERSIDE, Calif.-In its latest concession to the region's economy, Altura CU said it will close its Coachella branch and lay off the six employees there on March 24. The $860-million CU had planned to close the branch last year but acceded to pleas to reconsider the decision. However, continued problems with the local economy and the credit union convinced Altura, which lost $10 million last year and almost $14 million in 2008, to shutter the facility. Altura closed its San Jacinto branch last May and converted another branch in Corona to an electronic-only ATM location as part of a cost-cutting effort.

SAN ANTONIO, Texas-One sure way to get good marks on your mobile banking application is to rate it yourself, much as Firstmark CU here has done, awarding itself five out of five "stars" for its locator iPhone application at the Apple App Store.

KOKOMO, Ind.-Mortgage loan volume doubled last year at $175-million Solidarity Community FCU here, thanks to an online mortgage-application platform. Making the news even better: borrower credit was of "wonderful caliber."