CINCINNATI - With the bursting housing bubble and the IndyMac debacle as a backdrop, investing in branch expansion may appear to be a shaky proposition. But several analysts say those factors could actually open a window of opportunity for credit unions that can brave the temptation to “sit tight.”

WASHINGTON - Efforts to ban a variety of credit card practices, most of which target low-income cardholders, moved forward in Congress last week, but are not expected to be passed this year–leaving the issue for the next Congress to decide.

Employee Charged With Stealing More Than $200K

PHILADELPHIA - With tens of millions of dollars of liability at stake, Fifth Third Bank has asked a U.S. Appeals Court here to review a recent ruling by a three-member panel of the court that would enable Pennsylvania State Employees CU and hundreds of other credit unions to seek damages in credit card breaches from third-party processors.

HARRISBURG, Penn. - Credit unions in Pennsylvania offering alternatives to payday lending could see a spike in business following the Department of Banking’s decision to crack down on out-of-state lenders.

HARRISBURG, Penn. - With Pennsylvania the first state to mandate paperless vehicle titles for lien holders, one CU that shifted to the e-process 10 years ago wonders why some CUs waited until this year’s July 10 deadline to make the move, citing significant benefits from a program that may become a requirement in more states.

PLANO, Texas - The economy grew at a 1.9% pace during the second quarter, according to Southwest Corporate’s Brian Turner, who noted the growth was tempered by the continued housing slowdown and higher energy costs but buoyed by tax rebates.

St. Mary’s Lowers Rates For Loan

GREEN BAY, Wis. - For more than 10 years, P.C.M. Employees Credit Union has kept a stranglehold on the top spot of the Return of the Member rankings, securing that position every year since 1997.

The failure of IndyMac Bank and consumers concerned about their institution has:

Star One Offers CO-OP My Deposit

Altier Gives Away Gas For A Year

AUGUST

I take it all back. It’s officially retracted. Like the White House when forced to release documents, I’m “redacting” it; any future reproductions of that previous column are to be published only with all the text marked over in heavy, black marker.

Regarding Stuart Perlitsh’s letter to the editor on July 7 about Dan Mica’s salary: if the NCUA board wants to know why they shouldn’t order credit unions to publish CEO salaries, here is the reason. While Stuart is understandably concerned about the health of his and other California credit unions, blaming it in any way on Mica’s salary is disingenuous.

Credit unions were founded for times like today’s economic challenges. The main reason that we are in such a credit downturn today is that too many financial institutions turned to transactions in lieu of relationship building.

PARKERSBURG, W.Va. - For now, the threat of credit union taxation in this state has been checked, according to the West Virginia Credit Union League, which recently responded to the city of Charleston’s proposal to place a business and occupation (B&O) tax on credit union earnings.

As the volume of deposited and cashed checks converting to electronic form overtakes traditional paper clearing and settlement channels, credit unions late in adopting branch image capture are seeing courier costs skyrocket. How does a CU evaluate whether now is the time to consider implementing branch capture?

RESTON, Va. - Student loan giant Sallie Mae reported its second-quarter profit plummeted 72% as funding costs remained high amid further weakening in the credit markets and the company took charges related to its restructuring.

WASHINGTON - Even as other financial institutions are running away from student lending, credit unions are finding ways to dive right in, with several alternatives to creating a student loan program from scratch all cropping up.