In a slower economy one of the first places companies of all kinds look for cuts is the marketing budget. In service businesses it can be very difficult to tie revenue coming in directly to the “expense” of marketing, so this can feel like a very logical decision.

Many monetary incentive plans for frontline staff are too complicated and don’t work. The following incentive features will lead to incentive structures that will work:

Credit Union Journal encourages reader feedback. Letters to the Editor can be sent to Managing Editor Lisa Freeman at lfreeman cujournal.com. Letters can also be faxed to 561-832-2939 or submitted online at www.cujournal.com by clicking on “letter to editor” in the left-hand navigation bar. (c) 2008 The Credit Union Journal and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved. http://www.cujournal.com http://www.sourcemedia.com

As a prior employee of T&C FCU and a current employee of CCF FCU I find myself unsettled with the merger of T&C and USA (reported on CU Journal’s website, May 2). Since both credit unions are doing extremely well, especially given the state of the economy, I have to wonder that something like this may cause a problem in regard to our fight against the banks to maintain our tax-exempt status. Is this merger really necessary? Although the concept of the credit union doesn’t change-there are a lot of people out there who are only going to look at the dollar signs and see that these credit unions are making large profits, so why should they be able to continue with a tax-exempt status? It has always been an uphill battle in Washington to continue fighting the banks on this issue. I just hope that this type of merger doesn’t hurt credit unions in general lose that fight.

LIMA, Ohio - A former credit union collections officer who went to an NCUA examiner with allegations of a scheme to mask delinquent loans filed suit against the federal regulator last week claiming he was fired after the examiner exposed his role to credit union management.

DuPont Community CU, Waynesboro, Va., promoted Kimberly L. Dean to SVP of technology and lending, Steve Elkins to SVP of finance and retail, Barry Smith to VP of business retail services, Kyle Stutzman to VP of technology systems, Steve Pittman to VP of accounting and finance and Angie Bandy was named controller.

Events

FAIRFAX, Va. - Fairfax County FCU is connecting with the area’s growing Hispanic population with a new “Cueneta Corriente Americana,” an American checking account that allows members to portray the flag of their home country on their checks.

EUGENE, Ore. - Members of SELCO Community CU and the general public are being invited to create a television ad for the $820-million credit union.

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. - It never ceases to amaze me that really smart, talented people attribute the success of Harley-Davidson to the quality of the product.

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. - Is your credit union destined to be an Apple Computer? Or an Atari?

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Hicks is a believer in credit unions, noting that when her company was getting its legs underneath it Ohio it was affiliated with Kemba Credit Union.

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Angie Hicks understands what it means to struggle with growth–in fact, it’s the kind of growth one might find featured on the Internet.

WASHINGTON - The credit union lobby and its top congressional allies are trying to revive the regulatory relief bill for credit unions and get it primed again for a vote.

LAS VEGAS - Open Solutions Inc., a provider of integrated enabling technologies for financial service providers throughout the United States, Canada and international markets, was awarded “Best in Category” during the 2008 Prepaid Card and CDHC Conference here.

PSCU-FS Issues $24M Dividend

TUKWILA, Wash. - While some credit unions are refocusing on credit cards, they shouldn’t forget about their debit cards, which offer some unique membership growth opportunities, according to one cards expert.

ORLANDO, Fla. - Oberthur Technologies, a smart card and contactless card technology provider, won the 2008 award for Outstanding Smart Card Achievement (OSCA) from the Smart Card Alliance (SCA).

MIAMI, Fla. - Card fraud usually refers to credit cards, but unfortunately, debit card fraud is starting to catch on, according to one cards processing expert.

MIAMI, Fla. - Credit unions thinking about selling their cards portfolios might want to learn more about why Wachovia decided to get back into credit cards about 18 months ago and is now looking to expand its cards division.