RALEIGH, N.C. – State Employees CU said Friday its SECU Foundation has exceeded $20 million in college scholarships since its inception five years ago, making it one of the biggest higher education scholarship programs in the country.

DOTHAN, Ala. – The former chief financial officer of Wiregrass FCU was charged last week with opening several unauthorized credit card accounts in her name and that of several relatives, and using the accounts to get cash advances and make purchases of more than $137,000.

NEWARK, N.J. – A federal bankruptcy court ordered Friday that CU National Mortgage/US Mortgage turn over any and all funds belonging to Picatinny FCU that the $220 million credit union claims the failed mortgage servicer has been illegally withholding from it.

WASHINGTON – Regulators closed three more banks Friday, in Georgia, Colorado and Kansas, bringing to 20 the number of bank failures so far this year.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – NCUA said Friday it approved just nine mergers last month–less than half the normal monthly average–all but one of them involving a credit union that reported losses for last year.

WASHINGTON – NCUA is asking Congress for vast new authority to prevent a further meltdown of the credit union system.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Friday night’s historic government takeovers of U.S. Central FCU and WesCorp FCU will cost credit unions at least another $1.2 billion, on top of the $5 billion being assessed to fund the corporate bailout, NCUA officials said.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – NCUA on Friday night took both U.S. Central FCU and WesCorp FCU under conservatorship, the biggest federal takeovers in credit union history.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – NCUA on Friday night took both U.S. Central FCU and WesCorp FCU under conservatorship, the biggest federal takeovers in credit union history.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – NCUA on Friday night took both U.S. Central FCU and WesCorp FCU under conservatorship, the biggest federal takeovers in credit union history.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – NCUA on Friday night took both U.S. Central FCU and WesCorp FCU under conservatorship, the biggest federal takeovers in credit union history.

WASHINGTON — A national survey of CUs indicates support for using Treasury funds as a back up for the National CU Share Insurance Fund, according to CUNA.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Edgar Callahan-the man who first gave credit unions the ability to reach out beyond their core sponsors-died last week after a long illness.

THORNDALE, Penn. — Citadel FCU here is making more money off a broader chunk of its membership-and keeping 75% of its members "extremely satisfied" despite the nation's economic crisis.

RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif. — The California/Nevada league has reduced staff by 12 positions, including four open slots it is not filling, in order to meet a budget shortfall.

MONTEREY, Calif. — State charters in the Golden State are in for a period of "tough love," according to their regulator. But that love can be a little less tough if they are prepared for what their examiners are expecting of them.

SACRAMENTO, Calif.-Electronic bills are suddenly extremely popular among members at The Golden 1 CU here-and the service helps keep fraud at bay.

WASHINGTON — One year after introducing its The Complete Credit Union Solution DNA release, Open Solutions reporting that 112 credit unions have now moved to the solution.

MILWAUKEE, Wis. — Credit unions are joining online auctions that allow banks to bid for the CU's investments-and are finding interest rates that are at least a half percent higher than other sources.

PRINCETON JUNCTION, N.J. — The Smart Card Alliance has released a white paper examining the security of smart cards. Titled "What Makes a Smart Card Secure?," it was developed by the Smart Card Alliance Contactless and Mobile Payment Council's Security Work Group to provide an overview of smart card security features and other security designs inherent in smart card-based systems. The report can be found for free at www.smartcardalliance.org.