I read with disappointment, and amusement, Stuart Perlitsh’s letter to the Editor in response to the November 26th article in the Credit Union Journal titled “Mortgage Mess Mounts at Credit Unions”. I frankly don’t believe I’ve ever met Mr. Perlitsh despite the fact that our offices are just down the road a bit. Needless to say, I was surprised to hear of his strong views about Wescom, especially since he doesn’t have his facts straight.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Effective Jan. 1, the CAMEL Matrix credit unions have come to know during NCUA examinations will be replaced by a new matrix focused much more on risk.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - As of March 1, Community First Credit Union of Florida did away with its indirect auto lending. Now, almost 10 months later, the CU has no regrets.

WASHINGTON - Twenty-six out of the 44 U.S. credit union leagues–and 149 individual credit unions–have pledged to contribute to the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - The creative minds behind BankerSpank closed the year as they had begun it–unknown and unwilling to share their identities.

As I was leaving a board meeting on a fall afternoon in Northeast Ohio, I cut through a colleague’s office and exchanged pleasantries. “How’s your family? How are things going?” She said her headache from the morning had finally subsided–it began when a credit union member starting yelling at her on the phone.

Credit unions often misapply marketing resources because they don’t understand the youth market. Since “youth” ranges from newborns to those in their early 20s, it’s a wide audience with significant differences in product usage, interest and financial institution awareness. Only when the needs of each age group are analyzed can marketing entice youths or their parents to open accounts.

In honor of the Credit Union Journal’s 10th anniversary I collected the top 10 reasons I believe the credit union industry has the opportunity to grow and prosper in the coming decade. It turns out that the evolution of credit unions as service oriented financial services providers with strong community ties has positioned credit unions for success in our rapidly changing culture. Of course we need to educate the marketplace on what sets credit unions apart and deliver on our service promises to live up to our potential.

It’s a curse and it could be far worse–but it’s a tradition nonetheless,

An unhappy systems administrator who may want to teach a seemingly unappreciative credit union a lesson. An employee who is passed over for a promotion or a raise. A technically savvy database administrator who, for the right price, is willing to change someone’s credit history so they will be approved for a loan.

RIVERWOODS, Ill. – Discover Financial Services, the parent of Pulse EFT, reported a fourth quarter loss of $84.1 million yesterday, after taking a $391 million charge related to its struggling card business in Great Britain. The company warned earlier this month that it would be hit by a big impairment charge because of Goldfish, its troubled Visa and MasterCard business in the United Kingdom, where the consumer credit environment became shaky well before the U.S. housing slump.

SAN DIEGO – A team of robbers set accidentally set fire to a Navy FCU ATM when they were using a blow torch to break into it early one morning last week, setting some of the cash ablaze.

SEATTLE – The FBI is hunting for a long-nosed robber believed responsible for hold-ups at seven area institutions in the last two months, including heists at Verity CU and Alaska USA FCU branches.

BEAVERTON, Ore. – Rivermark Community CU said yesterday it has signed the IA Systems to implement the company’s StreamLend Velocity online loan origination system.

LANCASTER, Pa. – Mennonite Financial FCU, which serves members of the Mennonite, Amish, and other Anabaptist groups throughout the U.S., said it awarded $23,000 in grants to 15 church-related organizations. The credit union has provided more than $210,000 in such grants since 1995.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – New South CU announced yesterday it is paying its members a special 6.5% dividend.

RICHARDSON, Texas – Texans CU said yesterday it has purchased OBS Financial Services, a Whitehouse, Ohio-based investment advisor and turnkey asset manager that provides services for 52 financial institutions around the country.

McLEAN, Va. – Mortgage rates continued to rise ever so slightly this week, for the second week in a row, according to Freddie Mac.

WASHINGTON – CUNA reported yesterday it backed two winners of special congressional races earlier month, in Ohio and Virginia.

HARRISBURG, Pa. – The former president of Greater Harrisburg Community CU pleaded guilty in federal court yesterday to two misdemeanors in connection with charges that he steered $835,000 of federal funds to the now defunct community development credit union.