WASHINGTON – Senior members of the House Financial Services Committee agreed last night to combine the credit union regulatory relief bill with the bank relief package, in order to ease opposition from either of the foes to passage of their respective bills.

LONGVIEW, Texas – The former bookkeeper for a local company on Wednesday pleaded guilty to swindling almost $420,000 from Telco Plus CU.

PURCHASE, N.Y. – MasterCard yesterday said it has signed with Obopay to offer a fully-integrated, on-demand, person-to-person mobile payment service in the United States.

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – A pilot program created by CUNA Mutual to address one of the most vexing issues in credit unions – turning “indirect” members into longer-term relationships – has started to show promising results.

McLEAN, Va. – Both long-term and short-term mortgage rates rose again this week, to their highest levels since last September, according to Freddie Mac.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Florida and Alabama CU Leagues said they have entered into discussions about closer collaboration and even a potential merger.

SAN FRANCISCO – The Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco yesterday announced it has awarded a $1 million grant to Desert Schools FCU to finance construction of a 157-unit residential development for very-low-income mothers in Phoenix.

NILES, Mich. – Two men from Elkhart, Ind., this week were indicted by a federal grand jury in connection with a Jan. 18 hold up at Berrien Teachers CU, when a third accomplice was shot by a security guard.

WASHINGTON – With names such as AMERICPAC, PAC to the Future or Searchlight Leadership Fund, it is difficult to see what CUNA is spending credit unions’ campaign contributions on; but each of these so-called leadership PACs represents a vital link to its sponsors, who guide the Democratic majority in the House and Senate.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Officials of 1st Source Bank yesterday conceded that a security breach of its debit card server last month almost certainly is the cause of a growing number of fraudulent activities at area credit unions and banks that are being tapped into from overseas.

Kaiperm Federal Credit Union of Oakland, Calif., wracked by large losses in its mortgage portfolio, is negotiating a merger with Alliant Credit Union in Chicago.

SEATTLE – A former smoke shop owner pleaded guilty in federal court yesterday to skimming information from customers’ debit and credit cards and using it to siphon as much as $250,000 from their accounts.

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – A man accused of robbing two local branches of San Mateo CU without bothering to disguise himself will face trial, after a state judge's ruling Tuesday that enough evidence exists for the case to move forward.

PHOENIX – Desert Schools FCU yesterday said it raised $15,000 for Phoenix Children's Hospital during its annual Children's Miracle Network employee BBQ.

PHOENIX – Arizona FCU said it has implemented IEX TotalView Contact Management system in a bid to slash its contact center ASA and boost agent adherence.

HAMPTON, Va. – More than 140 employees who either carpooled or walked to work at Langley FCU Wednesday were rewarded for their efforts.

SAN ANTONIO – Security Service FCU yesterday said it has relocated its commercial services department to a new location in North San Antonio.

CLINTON, Md. – US Postal Service FCU yesterday said is has signed an agreement with Select-A-Branch to service its five ATMs.

YORK, Penn. – First Capital FCU said its Freedom Check program has passed the $1 million mark.

ROANOKE, Va. – Employees of Member One FCU are training students at Christiansburg High School to run an in-school branch of the credit union, one of three planned by the $350 million credit union.