RALEIGH, N.C. – State Employees’ CU gave a $125,000 grant to help continue production of "Exploring North Carolina" a five-time Emmy nominated nature program that airs on UNC–TV.

TULSA, Okla. – The Credit Unions for Kids committee presented its 2009 donation check of $155,000 to Children’s Hospital Foundation on Friday.

WARRENVILLE, Ill. – Members United Corporate FCU, one of a handful of corporates weighed down by large mortgage-backed securities losses, said yesterday it has agreed to sell its Share System CUSO to CO-OP Financial Services.

DETROIT – A local businessman was convicted last week of a scheme using phony borrowers to secure millions of dollars in loans from area credit unions and banks.

RICHMOND, Va. – State chartered credit unions can now convert to mutual savings banks under a bill passed last week by the legislature.

OLYMPIA, Wash. – The state’s credit unions won a major fight with passage of a bill that will give them access to billions of dollars in municipal deposits.

WASHINGTON – A financial services reform bill introduced in the Senate yesterday would tilt the continuing battle between state and federal regulators back to the states on the enforcement of consumer laws.

LOS ANGELES – At least a dozen credit unions specializing in student loans are licking their wounds as sponsoring universities are abandoning their key lending relationship for direct loans provided by the government.

WASHINGTON – Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd introduced a financial reform bill today that would expand the powers of the Federal Reserve, widely seen as ignoring its enforcement powers during the financial meltdown, by among other things, putting a new consumer financial protection agency inside the Fed.

WICHITA, Kansas-NCUA's proposed new rule for corporate credit unions will indirectly force consolidation among those corporates, according to the majority of comment letters sent to NCUA.

RIVERDALE, Utah-America First Credit Union is a "strong relationship-based institution" with one of the lowest rates of single-service households and, in turn, a "very high rate of both services and accounts per member household of all participating financial institutions."

OKLAHOMA CITY-Tinker FCU is making some minor modifications to its branches and has retrained front-line staff to better serve the visually impaired.

TMG Rewards Top Gift Card Sales

LATHRUP VILLAGE, Mich.-Taking a page from Burger King's playbook, Michigan First CU is letting members have it their way, allowing members to choose their exact mix of bills when they withdraw money from MFCU ATMs.

March

SAN ANTONIO-Credit union relationships with auto dealers are being tested by bank and captive finance companies' lowball offers, and CUs are adjusting their policies and practices to keep the dealer pipeline flowing.

BEAVERTON, Ore.-What really cements the credit union/auto dealer relationship, stressed Gayle Rust Gustafson, VP-financial services at the $500-million Rivermark Community CU in Beaverton, Ore., is having the right people working with the dealers.

HAUPPAUGE, N.Y.-How low can they go? That's a question credit unions are asking about auto loan rates, with the captive finance companies and banks driving down the numbers across the U.S.

MADISON, Wis.-Credit unions may not be able to count on the economy boosting auto sales and loan volume until 2012, when car loans may begin to return to levels closer to those experienced before the recession.

SWBC Purchases Cognasys