ALEXANDRIA, Va. – NCUA yesterday said it has approved several more big mergers. The deals will combine: Toledo Area Community CU ($375 million) with Erie Shores CU ($125 million), creating the fourth-largest credit union in Ohio; Wescom CU ($3.9 billion) with Great American CU ($60 million)and JSC FCU ($900 million) with Monument Area FCU ($50 million).

SAN ANTONIO – Credit union giant Security Service FCU won approval to serve more than 1.3 million people in five Texas counties designated as underserved as part of its acquisition of Horizon FCU, NCUA reported yesterday.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – NCUA yesterday said it has completed the first collective bargaining agreement with its fledgling employees union, giving its 730 covered employees, most of them examiners, 5% annual raises for the life of the three-year pact.

BELLEVUE, Wash. – Dutch banking giant ING announced yesterday it has agreed to acquire online brokerage ShareBuilder for $220 million.

GLASTONBURY, Conn. – Open Solutions Inc. said it has contracted with US Biometrics to provide the company’s fingerprint biometric authentication system to its credit union and bank clients.

MONNETT, Mo. – Jack Henry & Associates said it has signed with iPay Technologies to offer the company’s bill payment products and service to its credit union and bank customers.

WASHINGTON – The Federal Reserve yesterday announced it will increase its fees for services by an average of 3% next year, which will include a 5% rise in check service fees and an 8% decrease in fees for the Fed’s electronic payment services.

APPLE VALLEY, Minn. – Wings Financial FCU, which serves the entire airline industry, yesterday said it signed another affinity deal with a small air carrier, Eos Airlines.

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Redstone FCU has become the latest credit union to offer its own version of a short-term payday loan. The credit union’s “Stretch Loan” will be made for $150 to $500 and include a maximum repayment term of six months with a minimum repayment term of four months.

PHOENIX – Desert Schools FCU yesterday announced it is opening two more in-store Wal-Mart branches this Saturday, in the Phoenix suburbs of Mesa and Peoria.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. – Greylock FCU yesterday introduced a subprime auto loan that will reset to a lower rate if the borrower reestablishes good credit.

WYOMISSING, Penn. – Bellco CU announced it once again will offer its members its own branded credit card. The credit union went live on Nov. 5 with two new Platinum credit card programs–one with rewards, one with a great rate–both meeting the individual needs and wants of the members.

PEORIA, Ill. – Citizens Equity First CU yesterday announced is has signed with Vsoft Corp. to install the company’s suite of image capture technology. The suite includes Vsoft’s Image Capture, Image Exchange, Archive, Branch Item Capture, Merchant Capture, Image Statements and eStatements solutions.

TUKWILA, Wash. – BECU yesterday said it has contracted with TuVox, a Cupertino, Calif., provider of on-demand speech applications, to provide it with a self-service phone system.

PALO ALTO, Calif. – Investors in Pay By Touch are poised to seize control of the leading provider of fingerprint identification technology as lawsuits are swirling in federal bankruptcy court and the Chancery Court of Delaware, where the company is incorporated.

NEW YORK – e-Smart Technologies yesterday announced it 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.

PHOENIX – A local inventor has filed suit against five credit unions, alleging they infringed on his patent for a system to provide loans to employees in order to fund their personal contributions to 401(k) retirement plans.

SHARON, Mass. - Sharon CU said it has gone live with a new image capture system that allows its members to transmit their checks electronically from their home computers.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Police surrounded the Guest House hotel Friday and arrested two men who may be responsible for as many as four area bank robberies in the previous two weeks, including the recent armed robbery at New Mexico Educators CU.

LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y. – DealerTrack Holdings, the provider of online systems for indirect lending, reported third quarter profits fell 19%, to $4.5 million, or 11 cents a share.