SAN FRANCISCO - Visa Inc. yesterday said it will allow consumers to customize their gift cards this holiday season with personal photos or other images. Beginning Nov. 15, users will be able to design their own Visa gift card at the company's giftcardlab.com.

DAYTON, Ohio - NCR Corp. said it has introduced a new technology platform that will facilitate credit unions' access to shared branching and self-service financial kiosks.

DETROIT - One of six men charged in the 2001 robbery and slaying of an armored truck guard outside Dearborn FCU went on trial in federal court today.

FORT MYERS, Fla. - The legal exposure to the growing real estate speculation scandal in southwest Florida continues to mount for NCUA, even as the federal regulator prepares to sell off Norlarco CU, one of three failed credit unions that made as much as $500 million of loans in two developments near the Gulf of Mexico.

The National Credit Union Administration said Friday that it has begun negotiations with three Colorado credit unions to buy the healthy assets of Norlarco Credit Union of Fort Collins, which failed because of loans made to far-flung real estate developments in southwest Florida.

DEARBORN, Mich. - DFCU Financial announced it will pay its members a special dividend of more than $17 million for the second straight year. Eligible members will receive a 0.5% dividend on their 2007 average loan and deposit balances, to be deposited in their accounts on Jan. 7. Every member will receive at least $50.

WASHINGTON - A bipartisan consensus to rein in abuses in the subprime mortgage market threatened last week to sweep credit unions, banks and other mainstream lenders into the maelstrom.

FirstLight Creates Memorial Fund

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — NCUA said last week it expects to hold the annual increase in spending to around 3%, which will mean an increase in operating fees assessed federally chartered credit unions.

MADISON, Wis. - Fraud, con games and other criminal activities inhabit a dark place in our emotional architecture. We marvel at the ingenuity of these misdeeds, but we are also saddened at the loss of a victim's life's savings. The financial and popular media hype the loss as yet another defeat in the war against fraud.

SAN DIEGO - Wind-driven fires that raged for days in many areas of Southern California spared credit unions, their employees and their members, according to reports available at press time.

Experian's Maxine Sweet has this advice for parents to safeguard their children's identity:

IRVINE, Calif. - Identity thieves are increasingly setting their sights on children. Child identity theft, the stealing of a minor's personal information and the establishment of lines of credit in his/her name, is being reported at an "alarming rate," according to one analysis, with many parents and children not realizing that the child's identity has been stolen until he or she applies for credit much later in life.

In the July 15 issue, CU Journal explored the advantages larger CUs have over their smaller brethren. In this series, the Journal focuses on thriving, small CUs.

SPRINGFIELD, Ore. - Can a credit union be expected to grow if it's unable to market to its primary membership?

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Dennis Winans, chief financial officer for NCUA and a fixture in senior management at the federal regulator for more than a decade, will retire at year end, the agency announced yesterday.

SAN ANTONIO - Digital Defense Inc., which provides information security and risk management solutions, has released an updated version of its Security Training, Education, and Awareness Module (TEAM) Learning Management System (LMS) with an additional topical course titled Keylogging. The Security "TEAM LMS enables organizations to provide their clients who use online services with fundamental security education to avoid cyber-threats, allowing them to feel comfortable making use of the investment the organization has made in online services," the company said. For info: www.digitaldefense.com. (c) 2007 The Credit Union Journal and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved. http://www.cujournal.com http://www.sourcemedia.com

Synergent, Westbrook, Maine, named David McStowe account executive.

The Polk County (Florida) Business Journal featured John Santarpia, CEO at Community First CU in Mulberry, Fla. in a Q&A. In the interview Santarpia talked about his life and how he came to credit unions. He urged those hoping to enter the field to get a degree in accounting or finance, and said he got his own start working with a newspaper route at age 13.

OKLAHOMA CITY - The Oklahoma Independent Petroleum Association is crying foul over the winning bid by Oklahoma Employees CU to buy a parcel of land near the state capitol to build a new headquarters. The oil drillers say the CU's winning $860,000 bid-four times the next highest offer-should be thrown out because the credit union does not fit the requirements of the auction: to be a governmental or professional association. The oil drillers say they may sue the state over the auction process if the credit union's bid is accepted. The $220-million credit union serves anyone in state government and residents in seven surrounding counties. (c) 2007 The Credit Union Journal and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved. http://www.cujournal.com http://www.sourcemedia.com