ROCHESTER, N.Y. – ESL FCU said it has introduced a new type of savings account, called the Premier Money Maker, with a sliding scale for rates of returns giving bigger depositors bigger interest rates.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – the ongoing crisis in the mortgage markets is spreading throughout credit unions, NCUA reported yesterday.

DETROIT – If timing is everything, then Detroit Edison's wait for Huron River Area CU paid off big for the utility sponsored credit union. The $485 million credit union, serving a single sponsor and operating just one branch, had been eying possible merger partners–including the failed $340 million Ann Arbor credit union–as a way to expand its membership base.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Bank of America will use its ATM network to promote retirement planning to customers beginning in January, the bank giant said.

ALPHARETTA, Ga. – Alogent Corp., the provider of Check 21 automation systems, yesterday said it was granted a U.S. patent for its integrated front/back counter teller deposit automation process.

DES MOINES, Iowa – The Members Group yesterday announced that seven more credit unions will be offering Visa-branded ATIRAgift cards this holiday season, making a total of 55 credit unions offering the credit union card.

NEW BRITAIN, Conn. – Polam (Polish American) FCU last week broke ground on a new east coast headquarters in this heavily Polish community. The five-story project is scheduled for completion in September 2008.

POTTSVILLE, Penn. – Schuylkill County School Employees CU is building a new headquarters that will look like a train station. The one-story building will provide 12,800 square-feet of office space and cost about $3 million to build and will look like the former railroad station in nearby Reading.

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

ATLANTA – The Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta has provided CDC (Center for Disease Control) FCU with a $1 million grant to fund down payment assistance for low-income homebuyers.

BOSTON – Less than 72 hours after it liquidated Huron River Area CU, NCUA yesterday began to sell some of the failed Florida real estate loans made by the once $320 million Ann Arbor, Mich., credit union.

Weighed down by a large portfolio of failed South Florida real estate loans, Huron River Area Credit Union in Ann Arbor, Mich., was liquidated by the National Credit Union Administration and its remnants sold to Detroit Edison Credit Union, the federal regulator announced Sunday.

DALLAS - Sollen Technologies announced product enhancements to Lender Online, a pricing and pipeline management tool. Updates include an easier-to-use, more powerful search that helps loan officers by returning a true best execution without requiring the loan officer to predetermine the loan type.

CHICAGO - Three members of Credit Union 1 filed suit last month claiming the Rantoul, Ill., credit union violated terms of the Electronic Funds Transfer Act by, among other things, charging a fee greater than that posted at the ATMs.

GREENSBORO, N.C. - The FBI is hunting for several men who have robbed as many as eight credit unions and banks since July 2006, including a branch of Piedmont Aviation FCU twice.

BROOKFIELD, Wis. - Fiserv officials report it has signed a total of 872 clients for merchant capture and 972 for branch capture through September 2007, the largest volume of remote capture sales among all core processing providers to date. (c) 2007 The Credit Union Journal and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved. http://www.cujournal.com http://www.sourcemedia.com

WASHINGTON - The National CU Foundation was notified it won a $710,296 grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which the Foundation will award to 22 credit unions to help support their homeownership counseling programs.

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. - Service CU, chartered to serve military personnel at Pease Air Force Base, has contributed $20,000 for the benefit of the Air Force and its retirees.

KEY BISCAYNE, Fla. - More than a year ago, CUNA Mutual Group declared plastic card fraud to be CU Enemy No. 1.

NEW YORK - e-Smart Technologies yesterday announced it has been awarded a U.S. patent on its intelligent biometric identification card technology. The company's Super Smart Card has a sensor for capturing live biometric data, and a processor that will compare the data, such as a fingerprint, to stored data. The patent also covers the company's method for capturing biometric data and matching it with reference data, and causing the card to perform a desired function only if the identity of the user is verified. (c) 2007 The Credit Union Journal and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved. http://www.cujournal.com http://www.sourcemedia.com