WHEELING, W.V. – A federal judge on Friday appointed a public defender for the former president of Center Valley FCU, accused of siphoning as much as $9 million from the now-defunct credit union.

WASHINGTON – Regulators seized seven more banks Friday, including six in Georgia owned by the same company, increasing the number of bank failures to 64 in 2009.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The Golden 1 CU said last week it has completed the merger of Steinbeck CU, one of two ailing credit unions being acquired by the $7 billion credit union.

SAN DIEGO – California Coast CU, which doubled in size with last year’s merger of First Future CU, is adding another $130 million with the acquisition of Financial 21 Community CU, pushing it close to $2 billion in assets. The combination of the three San Diego credit unions comes as the southern California real estate crash shows few signs of abating.

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – Credit union executives are doubtful the $6 billion tab they will be paying for the corporate bailout over the next seven years will be enough to resolve the corporate meltdown and most are expecting additional charges.

This week's special report explores a variety of IT trends, including: using Twitter to launch collaborative campaigns, how one CU built its own forecasting tool for setting sales goals, electronic loan modifications and much more.

Failed CDCU Shuttered By NCUA

BATON ROUGE, La. — Whether deploying high-tech data theft methods or something as low-tech as dressing up as a fire marshal, one company says it was able to penetrate more than nine in 10 of the CUs and banks it targeted.

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. — Microsoft Vista is a "disaster" and a "nightmare," according to some credit unions, who say they are either holding their breath for Windows 7, sticking with Windows XP - or exploring the world of operating systems (OS) beyond Microsoft.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The NCUA taketh, and the NCUA giveth back: that's the story of the second quarter financials for credit unions, many of which are reversing millions of dollars in first quarter charges for the corporate credit union bailout which they took at the direction of NCUA, and reporting the gain as operating income.

WASHINGTON — NCUA Chairman nominee Deborah Matz promised stronger oversight of the corporate credit union system during confirmation hearings before the Senate Banking Committee last week and denied a role in the agency's easing of corporate restrictions.

DENVER — Loan modifications are completed in five days when signed electronically at Bellco CU here — perhaps saving 50% of the costs associated with paper-based execution.

HARRISBURG, Penn. — This state's budget impasse has members lining up to take advantage of CU low- or no-interest loans to bridge the gap until the next paycheck.

MELBOURNE, Fla. — Space Coast Credit Union reported a strong second quarter, net income of almost $31 million, as it swallows Eastern Financial Florida Credit Union in the biggest credit union merger ever.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A member of a New Jersey credit union has filed a multimillion dollar lawsuit against NCUA claiming the credit union regulator failed to enforce anti-discrimination and other consumer laws in her bid for a loan.

CU*Northwest Adds Features

New Payment Methods Sought

LATHRUP VILLAGE, Mich. — To drive deeper member relationships and gain deposits from competitors, Michigan First CU has upgraded its home banking system with several new features — one of which allows members to access their accounts at other financials within the online banking interface.

SPOKANE, Wash. — Spokane Teachers CU rarely goes back to the drawing board when it builds new business applications — the CU's web business forms are now brought to life in visualization software, shoring up upfront investments and easing frustration for staff.

LAS VEGAS — An around-the-clock, full-service call center has markedly increased sales and membership while cutting expenses at two credit unions.