LAS VEGAS - Women control more than 51% of U.S. wealth, and as such are much more than a niche segment that requires outreach beyond slick marketing to be wooed as bank customers and credit union members, according to one expert.

HOUSTON -

BILOXI, Miss. - For many people these days, the term “Christmas club” evokes fond memories of what life was like for folks around the post-war era, as depicted in the Christmas classic, It’s a Wonderful Life.

SAN DIEGO - By the Autumn of 2009 Harland Financial Solutions will be offering credit union customers using its UltraData Enterprise solution another choice based on a core platform it currently offers to bank clients and which will also be updated for release at that same time. But Raj Shivdasani, president of Harland’s Enterprise Solutions Group, stressed that the company has no plans to sunset the UltraData Enterprise solution; indeed, he anticipates many of the more than 400 credit unions now on the system will opt to remain there. For others, however, the company is developing its PhoenixEFE (Extended Financial Enterprise) solution for credit unions as part of a broader move to platforms based on Microsoft’s .net technology. Shivdasani acknowledged CUs that move to Phoenix will undergo the equivalent of a core conversion, but said the benefits presented by .net, including a single sign-on, greater integration, the ability of non-Harland solutions to essentially converse with each other through Phoenix’s XML architecture, other free tools Microsoft makes available, and more will have great appeal.

Orr Named Director of the Year

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - NCUA last week delayed the sale of Norlarco CU, just as it was preparing to auction off the failed $380-million credit union.

JERSEY CITY, N.J. - Comodo, a certification authority and Internet security company, unveiled the beta version of SecureEmail. This PKI-based solution enables outgoing emails to be encrypted and digitally signed so that recipients can be assured that the email has not been tampered with during transmission and is coming from a trusted source.

CALABASAS, Calif. - More than 60 financial institutions have selected Digital Insight’s consumer Internet Banking solution since the online banking company was acquired by Intuit Inc. in February, DI said. Approximately 10% of all online banking users in the U.S., now use Digital Insight’s consumer solution at nearly 1,800 financial institutions, he company reported.

LLOYDMINSTER, AB, Canada - Common Wealth Credit Union (CWCU), Alberta’s fourth largest credit union with 14 branches and more than 52,000 members, announced that Larissa Walkiw, 19, from St. Albert, Alberta, officially became CWCU’s first Young & Free spokesperson.

AUSTIN, Texas - CUNA hosted a live “blogcast” of its “Your Essential Strategies (YES) Summit: Serving 18-30s” last week, where it also showcased a new “social networking sandbox.”

CUISPA Adds Podcasts

DCC Rolls Out New Program

NEW ORLEANS - Despite massive assistance by government and private sector organizations, Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath devastated credit unions in and around New Orleans, especially low-income CUs, according to a study released by the Filene Research Institute.

PHILADELPHIA - SB1 FCU paid its members a special pre-holiday special dividend last week of more than $1 million.

Last year we used in our planning recommendations from your tech panel on technology issues to prepare for in 2007. Could your panel again provide a checklist of tech issues to be aware of, plan for in 2008?

RICHMOND, Va. - Navy FCU, which has embarked on the most ambitious expansion ever for credit unions, opened its first branch in the Virginia capital, the $33-billion credit union’s 27th new branch so far this year.

SAN FRANCISCO - San Francisco Fire Credit Union here is the best financial institution in the city, says the online community at the local yelp.com, a U.S. city review site. And not surprisingly, membership growth is also something to shout about: the credit union adds 4.5% to its membership annually.

WestStar CU, Las Vegas, collected more than 30 boxes of canned goods to help Southern Nevada’s Thanksgiving food drive.

The federal government’s plan to provide relief in the mortgage market:

BOSTON - The Securities and Exchange Commission asked a federal judge last week to enforce subpoenas against 14 depositors of New Haven Savings Bank who may have acted as “straw buyers” of hot mutual savings bank conversions to publicly traded banks.