CALABASAS, Calif. — Credit unions and banks will soon be able to offer TurboTax through their online banking interface-and it can be integrated with Digital Insight's FinanceWorks financial management tool.

SAN FRANCISCO – Cisco Systems has acquired Tandberg, a Norway-based video communications company that has been active in credit unions, pitching itself as a means of improving member service and reducing costs.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – More banks are altering pricing, fees and policies on their overdraft protection programs as regulators and legislatures threaten crackdowns on certain practices.

RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif. – CO-OP Financial Services reported it received 101 new credit union contracts for its payments products and services during the third quarter of 2009, averaging more than one new contract every day for three months.

BROOKFIELD, Wis. – Fiserv, Inc., has rolled out a new global account processing solution it says is “designed to transform the way large credit unions do business.”

DETROIT – The end of the federal government’s Cash for Clunkers also seems to have spelled a return to tough times here.

LAS VEGAS – The share of mortgages held at credit unions by CU members hit 5.2% as of June 30, which one industry insider said is both good news and bad news.

LAS VEGAS – The economy goes up and down, and in good times or bad, people look to commit real estate and mortgage fraud on credit unions and other financial institutions.

CALABASAS, Calif. – Credit unions and banks soon will be able to offer TurboTax through their online banking interface – and it can be integrated with Digital Insight’s FinanceWorks financial management tool.

WASHINGTON – Rep. Paul Kanjorski (D-Pa.) has drafted a bill that would make credit ratings agencies collectively liable for inaccuracies.

WASHINGTON – In testimony yesterday, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke expressed support for proposals calling for a “Council of Regulators” that would be charged with monitoring broad risks to the financial system.

AUGUSTA, Maine — After a contentious campaign, KV Federal Credit Union members rejected a proposed bank conversion and merger with nearby Kennebec Savings Bank, Credit Union Journal has learned.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – NCUA this morning announced the purchase and assumption of two more troubled credit unions, making a total of 21 credit union failures so far this year.

DALLAS–CU Members Mortgage reported it has now partnered with more than 1,000 credit unions, with the company crediting the growth to the increasing number of borrowers looking to CUs for mortgages. “The influx of membership is in part due to the member looking for a financial institution they can rely on,” said SVP Linda Clampitt. “Credit unions have emerged as providers of the service, stability, and quality that other institutions haven’t been able to offer.” Clampitt continued. “We simply help our partners reach their goals of doing just that.” The company was founded in 1982 as a division of Colonial Savings. It originates more than $2.5 billion in FHA, VA, conventional loans annually.

LOWELL, Mass.–Jeanne D’Arc Credit Union has opened a new 53,000-square-foot coporate headquarters here. The new building is at One Tremont Place, the site of the historic Tremont Yard & Mills. To mark the opening, the $735-million credit union hosted a gala that included numerous local dignitaries. The credit union has a long history in the town and is among the nation’s oldest, having been founded in 1912.

BOWLING GREEN, Ky.–A Service One Credit Union facility will be among the stops that are part of the “Allied Alternative Energy Bowling GREEN Tour” here. The SOCU facility is in the processed of being upgraded to meet certain green certifications.A tour of the facility will be made, followed presentations by others in the community. Participants in the tour will travel on biodiesel-powered school busses from the Warren County Public School District. The tour will also visit the Los River Cave wetlands project, a Western Kentucky University farm, a soccer complex that has solar panels installed, and other sites.

MONTGOMERY, Ala.–MAX Credit Union, which has earned a strong name for itself in its market for its effort so support sustainable living and “green” standards, is now playing vital role in this city’s Cans for Cash City Recycling Challenge. The Challenge is to run through Oct. 31 and will provide a $5,000 award to the city that collects the most aluminum cans, while another award will go to the city with the best idea for promoting recycling. 

MAX Credit Union’s branch is acting as a collection point for the cans.

ARLINGTON, Va.–NAFCU is calling on NCUA to hold an open budget hearing on its 2010 budget at the “earliest possible date.”In a letter to NCUA Chairman Deborah Matz, NAFCU President Fred Becker states, “Credit unions and their members are undergoing significant financial and other real pains in this difficult and volatile economic environment….With the financial challenges of credit unions, which fund the operation of NCUA, in mind, we believe it is critically important to ensure that the industry is kept fully informed and fully participates in every aspect of NCUA’s budgeting process.”NAFCU is also urging the agency to review a draft copy of its budget prior to any such hearing.

LONGVIEW, Wash.–Local police here are crediting a branch manager at one CU for catching a man suspected of robbing another credit union. The manager at Fibre FCU’s West Kelso facility became suspicious of Daniel James Fisher, who had entered the branch and who fit the description of a man who had earlier entered a branch of Red Canoe Credit Union, presented a note and escaped with cash.Fisher left the credit union after employees began questioning him, but not before providing his name. Police reported they arrested Fisher, along with his girlfriend, and that Fisher admitted he had robbed the Red Canoe branch and used the money to pay off drug debts. In 2007, Fisher was among several-dozen people arrested during a crackdown on the dealing of prescription drugs. He was later convicted and served five months.

WASHINGTON–Credit union lobbyists will be keeping an eye on several hearings and mark-ups scheduled in the House and Senate this week.The House Financial Services Committee will hold a hearing on the proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency on Wednesday, and later that same day the Subcommittee on Capital Markets will hold a hearing on reforming the credit rating agencies. On Thursday, the House Financial Services Committee will hear from Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke on a host of financial regulatory reform proposals.On the Senate side, the Banking Committee is holding another hearing on bank supervision, which is a continuation of a previous hearing last month, and Wednesday will have an hearing exploring "International Cooperation To Modernize Financial Regulation."Neither NAFCU nor CUNA was invited to testify at the CFPA hearing in the House Financial Services Committee, but both trade groups will file comments for the record. House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA) has circulated a discussion draft of the CFPA, which CUNA's Ryan Donovan said was "a couple of steps in the right direction" but still doesn't go far enough to address some credit union concerns about the proposed agency, adding that Frank has indicated he is still open to dialogue on these issues.