SEATTLE – BECU will be giving away life jackets to the first 300 kids to visit its Life Jacket Giveaway Booth at the Lake Union Boats Afloat Show.

NEW YORK – Lower Eastside People’s FCU yesterday said it has unveiled an electronic banking self-service kiosk in its central Harlem branch.

ADA, Mich. – Start-up CUSO Development said it is opening a branch in Las Vegas, part of expansion plans that extend into Virginia, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Police are searching for a hard-hat wearing robber who has held up four area credit unions in recent weeks, three of them branches of Eastern Financial Florida CU.

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Redstone FCU yesterday said it has opened its fourth Xtreme ATM, this one at its headquarters branch.

EL PASO, Texas – GECU is launching the third round of its popular Savings Challenge, but instead of focusing on families, this year’s round will be geared toward teaching college students the basics of personal finances.

SALT LAKE CITY – The board of Mountain America CU yesterday announced it has promoted Sterling Nielson to succeed Gordon Dames as president and CEO of the $2.8 billion credit union.

ELKHART, Ind. – Sunday’s federal takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had an immediate impact on credit unions, many of whom took advantage of the shift in market sentiment by recommencing selling their mortgages on the secondary market.

DENVER – Authorities believe a man who robbed Burlington Railroad CU in nearby Wheatridge yesterday is the suspect known as ‘Bank Robber Bob," who has robed as many as six area institutions.

BOISE, Idaho – Capital Educators FCU introduced a new program yesterday that will recognize area teachers with two $750 grants a month to use in their classrooms.

MILWAUKEE – The Corporate Network eCom, which is owned by corporate credit unions, has signed with Metavante to be its provider of mobile banking and payments solutions and will resell Metavante Mobile Financial Services, powered by Monitise Americas.

EL PASO, Texas – GECU, formerly Government Employees CU, is completing construction of an 88,000-square-foot operations center that will consolidate the $1.4 billion credit union’s operations and executive staff.

OREM, Utah – Family First FCU yesterday announced it will be the title sponsor at the 2008 Autumn Home Expo at the McKay Events Center here.

RICHMOND, Va. – Virginia CU officials said about 2,000 of its Visa cardholders have been notified of a data breach that made their cards vulnerable to potential fraud.

EAU CLAIRE, Wis. – Royal CU has deployed Passfaces Corp.’s online authentication system that requires members to identify pre-approved faces to log on to their Internet banking.

KENNEBEC, Maine – More credit unions are expected to explore combining with banks and thrifts, in the same way KV FCU is seeking to merge into 138-year-old Kennebec Savings Bank.

WEST MIFFLIN, Penn. – United Community FCU has found a new way to profit from an employee benefit – the credit union has equipped 17 employees with a company car, wrapped bumper-to-bumper in a credit union advertisement.

FORT WORTH, Texas – Sunday’s federal takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac has immediately pushed home loan rates downward by easing liquidity in the market and freeing the two secondary mortgage giants to buy mortgages.

KENNEBEC, Me. – Officials of KV FCU have set a tentative agreement to merge into nearby Kennebec Savings Bank, the venerable thrift that traces its origins all the way back to 1870, in a new permutation of the credit union conversion to bank.

KENNEBEC, Me. – Officials of KV FCU have set a tentative agreement to merge into nearby Kennebec Savings Bank, the venerable thrift that traces its origins all the way back to 1870, in a new permutation of the credit union conversion to bank.