WASHINGTON-It isn't just stockholders and the federal government that are on the hook in the plan to shore up Citigroup: other banks are, as well.

Lafayette FCU, CUBC Partner

PROVO, Utah-Delinquency ratios at credit unions in all regions in the country are up over one year ago, with the Southeast, the mountain states and the West Coast seeing the sharpest increases. Analysis released by CUData.com shows that for the third quarters of 2008 credit unions in a region running from Nevada to New Mexico and north to Montana and Idaho have seen an 86.2% increase in delinquencies over the same period one year earlier. Washington, Oregon and California have seen an 82.9% increase in delinquencies over the same period, followed by the Carolinas, Georgia and Florida, which have watched member delinquencies rise 79%. Five Midwestern states-Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana and Ohio-have enjoyed a relatively moderate 5.3% increase over the same period. Since the beginning of 2008, credit unions have charged off more than $31 million in bad loans through the first three quarters.

NEW YORK-As the mortgage industry begins modifying troubled loans in greater numbers, early rounds of modifications are coming in for performance reviews. A handful of analysts and academics who have studied which types of loan modifications work have found that some of the most common changes-reducing or freezing the interest rate and allowing missed payments to be rolled into the balance-often fail to prevent the borrower from defaulting again. These are, of course, high risk loans by definition. But one aspect of some modifications points to why the default issue can rearise so quickly. The addition of arrears and fees to loan balances can actually increase monthly payments, a situation that leaves strapped borrowers no better off from a monthly cash-flow perspective. (Not all lenders charge fees on modifications. Bank of America Corp., for example, waives fees on the Countrywide Financial Corp. loans it is modifying under an agreement with state attorneys general.)

MANCHESTER, N.H.-In a scene not seen in a century, credit union pioneers Alphonse Desjardins, Monsignor Pierre Hevey and Joseph Boivon all came together here to mark the 100th Anniversary of credit unions in the United States.

ORLANDO, Fla.-A year ago Travis FCU was charging off approximately $1 million a month. Today charge-offs have hit $3.5 million a month.

BATH TOWNSHIP, Ohio – Police now believe that a man who robbed TeleCommunity Credit Union here claiming he did so because his child was being held hostage by kidnappers made up the story.

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – Alltel Wireless said it is partnering with mFoundry’s extensible mobile wallet platform to create the “Alltel Wallet.”

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – NAFCU’s board will meet with the Federal Reserve next week to discuss credit union issues and present the findings of its 2008 Report on Credit Unions.

LANSING, Mich. – The Michigan Credit Union League (MCUL) and its subsidiaries, CUcorp and CU Village, are making two facility changes.

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. – The Thanksgiving holiday was made a bit better for many of the poor and the hungry by credit unions around the country.

WASHINGTON – Among the problems the federal government is confronting in the credit markets are the unintended consequences of its previous rescue efforts.

NEW YORK – Having tightened consumer lending standards, credit card issuers are pulling back in a more dramatic fashion from the small-business sector, where the risks and rewards are amplified. The result could be increased interest by small business owners in credit cards from their credit unions.

WASHINGTON – Promising that "help is on the way" for the suffering U.S. economy, President-elect Barack Obama has named former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker to lead a new panel designed to help the incoming administration avoid economic "groupthink."

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Below, Credit Union Journal offers readers a preview of the re-creation of the first deposit into a credit union in the United States.

NEW YORK – Having tightened consumer lending standards, credit card issuers are pulling back in a more dramatic fashion from the small-business sector, where the risks and rewards are amplified. The result could be increased interest by small business owners in credit cards from their credit unions.

WASHINGTON – Promising that "help is on the way" for the suffering U.S. economy, President-elect Barack Obama has named former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker to lead a new panel designed to help the incoming administration avoid economic "groupthink."

WASHINGTON – The two-part addition to the financial rescue plan unveiled this week could both help and hurt credit unions, albeit only indirectly, according to credit union economists.

BUCHAREST, Romania – The economic issues in the United States are getting the attention of credit unions in other countries, as well.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Credit Union 24 announced it is disbursing cash in place of the certificates that credit unions earned during the first two years of the cooperative’s operations.