LAS VEGAS -

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Allegacy FCU last week announced the launch of a high-interest checking account with 6% interest on balances up to $25,000.

ATLANTA - As foreclosures rise, the Georgia Dream First-Time Homebuyer Program is providing low-income, first-time homebuyers with a safe lending alternative while also generating new revenue for CDC FCU.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Leap years are years with 366 days, instead of the usual 365. They are necessary because the actual length of a year is 365.242 days, not simply 365. Leap years occur every 4 years, and years that are evenly divisible by 4 (2004, for example) have 366 days. This extra day is added to the calendar on Feb. 29.

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. - The Xerox name is well known–but perhaps a bit too well known for a credit union that also serves other employee groups. As a result, the $702-million Xerox FCU is changing its name to Xceed Financial CU.

ARLINGTON, Va. — When Leap Year was created, the goal was to get the seasons to line up with the calendar and ensure everyone was celebrating Easter at the same time. But the Feb. 29 Leap Day this week will also have a small but measurable effect on credit union balance sheets.

HONOLULU - Aloha Pacific FCU last week said it has introduced checking accounts that pay up to 5% interest.

MADISON, Wis. - State-chartered credit unions in Wisconsin boosted their loan loss reserves last year by millions of dollars as delinquencies and charge-offs began to tick up, according to the annual summary issued by the Department of Financial Institutions.

WASHINGTON - NCUA Chairman JoAnn Johnson represented NCUA at the first meeting of the President’s Advisory Council on Financial Literacy at the United States Department of Treasury.

WASHINGTON — Leaders of the House Financial Services Committee are finally planning to hold hearings on the CU Regulatory Improvements Act, the 5-year-old bill better known as CURIA.

ATLANTA - The 2007 Lawry’s Tasty Traditions “Reel Creative Meals” contest, including its $25,000 first prize, was won by a credit union executive.

WASHINGTON - CUNA contributed $120,000 last month to the coffers of the Democratic and Republican parties, as both parties geared up for the coming election season.

FONTANA, Calif. - Arrowhead CU last week celebrated the opening of its 27th branch in a prominent location inside the State Bros. store just off Interstate 15. The newest branch will be open seven days a week and is close to the new 210 Freeway corridor.

The Winston-Salem Journal in North Carolina profiled Jeanine Miller, a member service rep at Members Credit Union, who has been with the CU for 44 years. Miller joined what was then McLean Employees CU in 1963 when the credit union carried no cash. The story quoted members talking about the service Miller provides, with one member remarking, “She makes you feel at home in your transactions,” the member said. Miller is planning to retire this month.

Former NCUA Board Member Bob Swan Dies

HARRISBURG, Penn. - Two men involved in a fraudulent car loan scheme at Pennsylvania State Employees CU were found guilty in the brutal murder of one of their accomplices.

WASHINGTON - Senior members of the House Financial Services Committee called on Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Education Secretary Margaret Spellings to help inject liquidity in the student loan market just as the liquidity crisis appears to be seizing up the secondary market for student loans.

At press time, the number of co-sponsors on the CURIA bill. 218 are needed to have a majority. (c) 2008 The Credit Union Journal and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved. http://www.cujournal.com http://www.sourcemedia.com

Wolters Kluwer Helps ARMs

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. - A former security service employee pleaded guilty to helping plan the robbery of $195,000 last July 26 from his company’s armored car while it was making a cash delivery at Olin Community CU.