PLYMOUTH, Mich. – The Michigan CU League has expanded its successful “Invest in America” program to include discounts through two new partners, FTD Florists and CU Benefits Express.

RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif. – CO-OP Financial Services announced yesterday it has renewed its contract with Cardtronics to access the company’s 5,500 ATMs in 7-Eleven convenience stores for another five years.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Pentagon FCU, one of the largest credit union issuers of Visa cards, will become one of the first large credit unions to also issue American Express cards, under a deal announced yesterday.

ARLINGTON, Va. – Despite the turmoil of the past 12 months, corporate credit unions continue to be the major source of additional liquidity for credit unions, according to a new survey.

PHOENIX – In order to help shoppers on the biggest shopping day of the year, Desert Schools FCU will open all 24 of its Wal-Mart branches at 5 a.m. on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving.

TULLAHOMA, Tenn. – Ascend FCU plans to pay an $8 million bonus to its members, just in time for the holidays.

LAS VEGAS – The Nevada CU League on Monday approved an assessment on member credit unions for continuing a public advocacy program.

FALL RIVER, Mass. – A leading lawmaker said Monday he is pushing legislation that would use some of the interest the government collects from the Troubled Asset Relief Program to give loans to unemployed homeowners struggling to pay their mortgages.

WASHINGTON – Lawmakers are not expected to hold off on proposed reforms on overdraft protection rules even after last week’s new rules by the Federal Reserve requiring opt-in on overdraft programs for all debit and ATM transactions.

LAS VEGAS — It's fitting credit unions from California and Nevada will be meeting here this week. The city that figuratively and financially symbolized the real estate boom has been hit hard by the housing crash and a painful, ongoing recession.

MADISON, WI: The Filene Research Institute has released "U.S. Latino Families, Heads of Household, and the Elderly: Emerging Trends in Financial Services and Asset-Building Behaviors." In it, researcher Barbara J. Robles of Arizona State University focuses on key features and opportunities of the Latino financial experience, such as the incidence of multiple generations living under one roof, a lower-than-average age than the overall population, and a higher frequency of married couples.

Lending Council Elects Board Members

November

BOSTON — Fiserv has announced plans to roll out a person-to-person (P2P) payments service allowing consumers to send money to one another using their existing online relationship.

BOSTON — The ACCEL/Exchange Network has begun processing secure, Internet-based PIN debit transactions; the first payments network to do so.

Fed Opts In on Opt-In for ATM Overdraft ProtectionWASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve adopted new rules that will require credit unions and banks to obtain permission from customers-opt-in-for overdraft protection programs debit card and ATM transactions.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — NCUA said it is instructing its examiners to put less emphasis on the "E" or earnings component in the so-called CAMEL code, as long as a credit union has a long-term strategic plan to weather the current economic environment.

GOLDSBORO, N.C. — Proposed legislation that would rein in overdraft protection programs and require credit unions to obtain written permission from members to opt-in to such programs is causing at least one CU to worry about its future.

HAMPDEN, Maine — As is often the case, it may have been good intentions going in, but that's not what's going to come out of Congress, one person observed.

MADISON, Wis. — One credit union here that seeks to help members avoid NSFs, has concerns over a number of the provisions being proposed in federal legislation to limit those fees.