CUNA Economist Bill Hampel did an appearance on CNN's show with Lou Dobbs, who was doing a story on "The Middle Class Under Siege." Hampel discussed the findings of the Consumer Federation of America's holiday spending survey (see related story, page 3) and noted that the demographics of the survey showed that middle class people (defined as those around $50,000 income) were feeling particularly crimped by gas and home heating costs and how this likely will have an adverse impact on their holiday spending. (c) 2007 The Credit Union Journal and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved. http://www.cujournal.com http://www.sourcemedia.com

Southeast Corporate FCU, Tallahassee, Fla., promoted Robert F. Schleiter Jr. to executive vice president, Sandy Baker to senior vice president of sales and marketing and Kay Moon to senior vice president, chief operations officer.

WASHINGTON - CUNA said its political action committee, one of the most powerful on Capital Hill, raised $198,000 last month and made $96,000 in campaign contributions, building its campaign warchest up to $445,000, just as the second year of the two-year campaign cycle is beckoning.

DECATUR, Ala. - Authorities say a woman suspected of robbing Alabama CU last week actually was a man with breast implants.

NEW YORK - The National Federation of CDCUs has contracted with the National CU Foundation to train 22 homeownership trainers or counselors under a new federal grant.

Rank Credit Union State Total Assets Losses Through

DURHAM, N.C. - Young adults and college students are spending approximately $1 billion annually in overdraft fees each year, according to a new study. The primary reasons: increasing use of debit cards and POS combined with growing fees for NSFs and other charges.

SAN ANTONIO - How do users interact with the new AT&T mobile banking solution? After accessing mobile banking on the AT&T handset, customers use the code to link their account to the mobile application on their device. Customers then create their own personal identification number (PIN) to provide secure access to the application. All data is encrypted, and customers can deactivate the service immediately if handsets are misplaced. For additional security, new bill payees can only be added from customers' online banking accounts. AT&T said its customers pay no additional fee to access mobile banking and, because the application resides on the handset, the service is optimized to reduce the number of new page views necessary to complete a transaction. Minimal data usage charges apply and vary based on individual use. AT&T is recommending a data plan (starting at $9.99 a month) for customers who plan to use mobile banking and other data services frequently. (c) 2007 The Credit Union Journal and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved. http://www.cujournal.com http://www.sourcemedia.com

SouthWest Community FCU

Growth By The Numbers

PEWAUKEE, Wis. - The Wisconsin CU League has released an analysis suggesting that the state's credit unions have saved residents who otherwise would have turned to a payday lender more than $1 million in short-term borrowing costs.

MUSKEGO, Wis. - Corporate Central Credit Union's Board approved a $500,000 Patronage Refund for 2007, the largest payout the corporate has ever had in the 19 years that it has "given back" to its members.

TROY, N.Y. - SEFCU, the former State Employees FCU, is planning to build a 37,000 square-foot office building here to house its growing member business loan and insurance operations, as well as its non-profit charitable foundation.

OLYMPIA, Wash. - Demolition began on three downtown apartment buildings to make way for a five-story headquarters for Washington State Employees CU.

SAN DIEGO - One of the greatest credit union myths? Expanding field of membership inevitably leads to an improved bottom line, according to one person.

ARAB, Ala. - Developers were hailing the renovation of The Apartments at Mallard Pointe, which was financed through Redstone FCU.

A credit union's brand is the place it holds in the minds of its members. In the same way, its internal brand, or culture, resides in the minds of its employees. Culture amounts to the written and unwritten rules that govern how employees behave, think and feel. The external and internal brand must be aligned because it's very difficult to deliver an exceptional member experience, without an exceptional staff experience.

Integrity Offers Member Advantage

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Bank of America will use its ATM network to promote retirement planning to customers beginning in January, the bank giant said. When consumers insert their cards into the bank's ATMs, ads will appear to present details of the institution's retirement services. The ATM messages will be part of an integrated-advertising campaign that already includes online marketing and full-page ads in national and local newspapers. (c) 2007 The Credit Union Journal and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved. http://www.cujournal.com http://www.sourcemedia.com

DECEMBER