PASADENA, Calif. – Credit union giant Wescom CU yesterday said it has contracted with software developer SAS to provide it with credit loss forecasting services.

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. – Provident CU yesterday said it has signed a multi-year contract with Online Resources Corp. to implement the company’s retail and business banking, payment and other services.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – PSCU Financial Services yesterday said it has agreed with Financial Service Centers Cooperative to develop a mobile platform for credit unions that connects the shared branch network to members’ cell phones.

WASHINGTON – The two chief sponsor of CURIA last night introduced a new version of the regulatory relief bill for credit unions in an effort to move the bill that has been stalled in the House for the past five years.

NORTH CANTON, Ohio -- United Technologies Corp. offered to acquire Diebold Inc., the world's largest ATM manufacturer, for $40 a share, or $2.6 billion. The offer represents a 66% premium over Diebold's closing share price Friday of $24.12.

An item on cujournal.com Feb. 29 should have clarified that the retirement of Michael Patrick from CommunityAmerica Credit Union is not tied to losses the credit union posted on its most recent 5300 report.

SAN DIEGO – Symitar has launched a new website it is calling CU-Tube.com that will feature testimonials from CEOs of Symitar client credit unions.

YUBA CITY, Calif.—Two men called the “Halloween bank robbers” and who robbed Schools Financial Credit Union have been sentenced to prison.

PEWAUKEE, Wis. – The Wisconsin Credit Union League is blasting a bill introduced in the state legislature that has the backing of the state’s bankers association and which would apply provisions of the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) to credit unions.

WASHINGTON – Twelve credit union leaders have been named, including two posthumously, to the new "Credit Union House Hall of Leaders,” created by Credit Union House.

MIDDLETOWN, Penn. – Constitution Corporate FCU in Wallingford, Conn., said it has partnered with MY CU Services, LLC, a subsidiary of Mid-Atlantic Corporate, to offer Electronic Bill Payment (EBP) to Constitution Corporate’s member credit unions.

MICHIGAN CENTER, Mich. – The former senior VP and CFO at Cascades Community FCU here has been being charged with embezzling more than $339,000 from the credit union.

DUBLIN, Ohio – A credit union alternative to traditional payday lending, StretchPay, is reporting it saved members of 31 credit unions more than $3 million in 2007.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Credit Union 24, the credit union-owned point-of-sale (POS) network, and San Dimas, Calif.-based Financial Service Centers Cooperative, Inc. (FSCC), the operator of a national shared branch network, said they have entered an “alliance to explore collaborative approaches to help credit unions maximize services and service delivery.”

HARRISBURG, Penn. – As many as 100 of the 300 credit unions that use the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency for student loans could be affected after the PHEAA said it will temporarily suspend its activities as a Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) lender, according to the Pennsylvania CU Association.

WASHINGTON – More than 3,000 people are on hand today for the opening session of CUNA’s Governmental Affairs Conference, which is being held in the Washington Convention Center for the first time.

WASHINGTON – Applications for mortgage refinancings plunged in February after a January spike had raised hopes refi’s could come to the rescue of the market.

Officials in Belmont, Mass., are considering whether to make it much more difficult for banks and credit unions to open branches there.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Federally chartered credit unions would be required to report the annual compensation of their senior executives to members under a proposal issued by NCUA last week.

WASHINGTON - The credit union lobby convinced Senate leaders last week to carve out most credit union mortgages from a bill that would give bankruptcy courts the ability to rewrite the terms of home loans for the first time, just as the bill was moving towards a vote by the full Senate.