SEATTLE – BECU last week held a grand opening for its newest branch, which is in the underserved neighborhood of Lower Queen Anne.

CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, Penn. – U$X FCU paid its members a loyalty reward for the eighth straight year.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Charlotte Metro CU has agreed to acquire one of the three local branches being closed by Coastal FCU in the University area.

PEMBROKE PINES, Fla. – Power Financial CU is offering local businesses the chance to have a team of professionals examine their company's financial platform, evaluate their marketing communications and win a $1,000 gift card to Staples, as part of its second annual Small Business Makeover Challenge.

PORTLAND, Ore. – Authorities hope a 10-year prison sentence will finally deter a woman who continued to rob area credit unions and banks as part of an identity theft ring while she was continuing to ply her trade.

RICHMOND, Va. – The state House Commerce and Labor Committee voted unanimously in favor of substitute language for a banker-sponsored bill early Friday morning.

NEW ORLEANS – ASI FCU is closing its 14 branches and giving its 200 employees the day off to celebrate the local New Orleans Saints’ role in yesterday’s Super Bowl.

HOUSTON – Dozens of credit unions are walking away from the $60 million payment Visa issuers will get for the costs they incurred for the massive credit card breach at Heartland Payments System.

PASADENA, Calif. – Wescom Central CU, showing the worst effects of the Southern California real estate bust, reported a $93.6 million loss for 2009 on Friday.

OGDEN, Utah – America First CU, the state’s largest credit unions, was approved to acquire troubled Mountain High FCU, its second deal for a failed credit union in recent months, NCUA reported Friday.

OAKLAND, Calif. – A simmering battle over the one-time headquarters of defunct Kaiperm FCU is shining a rare light on the behind-the-scenes machinations involved in the sale – the so-called purchase and assumption – of failed credit unions.

PURCHASE, N.Y. – MasterCard said yesterday its fourth-quarter profit rose 23% as the card company raised its fees to offset fading credit card use in the U.S.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Fidelity National Information Services reported a $53.9 million fourth quarter loss yesterday, due to an $87.6 million charge for its recently completed acquisition of Metavante Technologies.

AUSTIN, Texas – A member of Austin Telco FCU is wanted by police after he allegedly tried to deposit some cocaine along with cash into his credit union account.

WEST JORDAN, Utah – Cyprus CU donated $25,000 this week to the 100% For Kids Credit Union Education Foundation, which in turn will be given to Utah schools.

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – Gwinnett FCU announced it will be funding $63,500 in scholarships this year.

NEW ORLEANS – Another member of New Orleans Firemen’s FCU pleaded guilty this week to stealing cash from the credit union’s ATM after electric outages caused by the August 2005 Hurricane Katrina forced the credit union to go offline with its cash machines.

WASHINGTON – Mortgage rates moved slightly higher this week, but remained near decades lows, according to Freddie Mac.

LANSING, Mich. – The state’s leadership announced a partnership to channel as much as $43 million of credit union loans to Michigan’s small businesses.

SAN DIEGO – San Diego County CU, one of the few healthy large credit unions in Southern California, said its long-time president Iren Oberbauer will retire for health reasons.