ALEXANDRIA, Va. – NCUA said it has approved a request from Pentagon FCU to add the Military Officers Association of America to its field of membership, one of the biggest common bond expansions approved by NCUA in recent years. The group serves more than 360,000 military officers out of its headquarters, a stone’s throw from the credit union. The credit union giant is one of the fastest growing in the country and is poised to become only the third $10 billion credit union in the country.

McLEAN, Va. – Home loan rates rose this week after the release of employment figures which showed better-than-expected job growth, according to Freddie Mac. The average for the benchmark 30-year, fixed-rate loan rose to 6.40%, from 6.37% last week; while the average for the 15-year, fixed-rate mortgage climbed to 6.06%, from 6.03%. ARM rates also rose, with the average for the one-year ARM moving to 5.73% this week, from 5.58%; and the average for the five-year ARM inching up to 6.12%, from 6.11%. "The economy added 110,000 new jobs last month while July and August were revised upwards by a total of 188,000 jobs, reflecting greater strength in the economy during that time than initially indicated," said Frank Nothaft, chief economist for Freddie Mac. Nothaft also said the release of the minutes from the Fed's Open Market Committee meeting on Sept. 18 reassessed the possibility of another interest rate cut. "The market currently is looking for about a 30% chance of a 25 basis point rate cut rather than the 50% chance that they had previously expected," he said.

CALABASAS, Calif. – Countrywide Financial CEO Angelo Mozilo, who recently halted his lucrative sale of company stock as the nation’s largest mortgage lender slid near the abyss, resumed his options play this week to the tune of more than $5 million in profits. Mozilo, who has earned more than $90 million so far this year by exercising options, exercised 560,000 options over the last four days at $9.94 each, then sold the shares for between $20.14 and $18.36, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Mozilo’s pay–he’s taken home more than $350 million in the last three years–has rankled investors lately as the company has been squeezed by the liquidity crisis in the mortgage market. Rumors of insolvency were quashed only after a $2 billion bail-out by Bank of America.

RESTON, Va. – Student loan giant Sallie Mae yesterday said the effects of the would-be takeover of the company caused a third quarter loss of $344 million, or 85 cents a share, compared to a profit of $263 million, or 60 cents a share, for the same period last year. Included in the third quarter loss are pre-tax losses on derivative and hedging activities of $487 million, principally related to the decline in share price during the quarter on the company's equity forward positions, as the company’s share price slumped to $48 while the $60-a-share takeover was imploding. The company said it will continue to contest the decision by the buyout group, led by private equity fund J.C. Flowers & Co., JP Morgan Chase and Bank of America, to terminate the $25 billion takeover because of a new law cutting student loan subsidies. Sallie Mae has filed suit claiming the group owes it a $900 million break-up fee for terminating the takeover. Yesterday, company executives said they have heard from other potential suitors as the takeover fight continues. "We get calls," said Albert Lord, chairman of the board, yesterday during a third-quarter earnings call with investors. At the end of the third quarter, Sallie Mae’s student loan portfolio rose to $160 billion, by far the biggest in the industry.

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Members of Golden Bay FCU, in nearby Mountain View, overwhelmingly approved the combination of the $210 million credit union into $1.2 billion Meriwest CU, one of the biggest credit union mergers in recent years. In the wake of the merger Meriwest, once one of IBM’s employees’ credit unions, will have 19 branches in the Bay Area and two in Tucson, Ariz. The merger is one of several large credit union combinations in the works, including Western FCU ($1.2 billion) with Toyota FCU ($275 million); CommunityAmerica CU ($1.5 billion) with Midwest United CU ($170 million); and SAFE CU ($1.4 billion) and Capital Power CU ($60 million).

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Police are investigating a city parking meter worker who tellers at City and County CU say brought in huge amounts of coins for about a year, deposited several hundred dollars each time into his personal account and took the rest in bills. The city worker drew the attention of a credit union teller after she noticed him bring in dollar coins and quarters on a weekly basis totaling about $1,200, according to a search warrant filed in state court earlier this week. After she saw him on the street emptying meters for his job, she tipped an off-duty police officer working at the credit union. Police interviewed four other tellers, who also were suspicious of the meter collector. None of them saw him make anything but coin transactions.

MIAMI SPRINGS, Fla. – Three men brandishing at least one rifle held up the guard of an armored truck outside an Eastern Financial Florida CU branch yesterday morning, then made their escape ahead of the police. Heavily armed police officers flooded the area after finding the getaway car–a gray Buick Century with its doors flung open–outside a nearby apartment building. A guard with the Brink’s truck said one robber stuck a rifle to the small of his back and ordered him to give up the money. An undisclosed amount of money was taken. Crime scene technicians were going over the Brink’s truck and the Buick for clues yesterday.

MASON CITY, Iowa — A former employee of North Iowa Community CU Tuesday received a suspended 10-year prison sentence for stealing $15,000 through a fake loan scam. Stephen Thomas, 25, pleaded guilty to first-degree theft in August. Thomas made loans using fake names while working for the credit union and kept the money. The credit union’s insurance paid $14,900 in the case and Thomas was ordered to pay the remaining $100.

CHICAGO – The Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago yesterday said it signed a cease and desist order with its federal regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Board, which, among other things, limits growth in its secondary mortgage market program, known as Mortgage Partnership Finance. The order will limit growth in the program to 10% a year and set strict capital limits. The Chicago Bank, stuck with $34 billion of mortgages bought from banks and credit unions, currently is negotiating a merger with the FHLB of Dallas, but the future of the huge mortgage portfolio has yet to be decided. The regulatory order will require the Chicago Bank to limit stock redemptions if capital standards are not met. The order also requires the regulator approve any dividends paid by the Chicago Bank. "As a result of this order, we do not expect that we will be able to conduct a broad redemption of voluntary stock in the fourth quarter of this year," said Mike Thomas, CEO of the Bank, in an Oct. 10 letter to credit union and bank members. "With regard to dividends, the Board will continue to assess our dividend capacity each quarter."

SIOUX CITY, Iowa – A former branch manager for Advantage One CU Tuesday pleaded guilty to fraudulently obtaining more than $362,000 through a phony loan scheme. Robin Andersen pleaded guilty to four counts of bank fraud and two counts of money laundering. Sentencing was set for Jan. 8, 2008. Andersen was charged with using members’ names and identifiers to obtain credit cards and loans from November 2000 through October 2004.

CHATSWORTH, Calif. – Premier America CU yesterday said it has agreed to install Fidelity National Information Services’ MISER core processing system. The MISER system includes complete deposit and lending functionality, along with comprehensive business and operational features. Premier America is a $1.3 billion credit union with nine offices in California and Texas.

ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. – Self-Help CU this week unveiled plans to renovate the historic post office building here. In recent years, the community development credit union has partnered with government and business to renovate six historic buildings in the region, including the old Peoples Bank building downtown. The renovation of the 93-year-old post office will complement recent restoration of the city’s train station and the construction of a new center for the arts.

APPLE VALLEY, Minn. – Wings Financial FCU yesterday announced an agreement with Colgan Air to provide the Virginia-based airline’s 1,100 employees with a full range of financial products and services. It is the third regional air deal since June for the airline credit union. Under the agreement, Wings Financial will offer Colgan Air employees a customized line of checks featuring the carrier’s aircraft. Wings Financial earlier struck similar deals with JetBlue Airways and Sun Country Airlines.

WASHINGTON – Fourteen credit unions will receive almost $600,000 in grants from the National CU Foundation to help them develop innovative programs to reach the underserved, the Foundation announced yesterday. The $580,000 in grants will be leveraged to fund almost $3 million in programs for payday lending, income tax assistance, student run credit unions, Individual Development Accounts for foster youth and financial literacy, among other things. The recipients include: Mission Area FCU, Guadalupe CU, Brooklyn Cooperative FCU, Carter FCU, La Capitol FCU, Syracuse Cooperative FCU, La DOTD FCU, Neighbors FCU and Southern Teachers & Parents FCU, Trulian FCU, as well as programs developed by the Wisconsin CU League, Pennsylvania CU Foundation and Arizona Saves, a non-profit that partners with credit unions and banks on savings programs.

RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif. – CO-OP Shared Branching yesterday stepped up its competition with Financial Services Centers Cooperative with its own self-service kiosks. CO-OP’s kiosks feature loan payments, withdrawals by checks, cash advances and other functions not available at a standard ATM. The introduction of the CO-OP Fast Branch comes just a few weeks after FSSC introduced its self-service kiosks in 2,000 7-Eleven convenience stores. The CO-OP Fast Branch was developed in partnership with Ensenta Corp. and NCR Corp., and is powered by Ensenta’s web-based EZ Admin back-office. The new machines will work on CO-OP’s existing shared branch platform. CO-OP Shared Branching is a subsidiary of CO-OP Financial Services, the credit union-owned electronic funds transfer network.

FORT MYERS, Fla. – Investigators with the U.S. Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission are looking into an expanding real estate bust in southwest Florida, which has sunk three credit unions and caused a flurry of lawsuits from buyers in the program, known as Millionaire University. Among other things, the probe is focused on Russell Whitney, king of the real estate investment infomercial and creator of such get-rich programs as Millionaire University, Rich U, Rich Dad, Teach Me Foreclosure and Real Estate Investing, and Teach Me To Trade, according to several sources involved in the widening case, which has caused the failures of Norlarco CU, Huron River Area CU and New Horizons Community FCU. A federal grand jury has been impaneled by the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia to investigate some of the same charges brought in dozens of civil suits by investors claiming fraud and securities violations, according to a financial disclosure by Whitney Information Network (pink sheets stock symbol RUSS), one of Whitney’s companies. Lawyers for Whitney met by teleconference last week with lawyers for NCUA, which has control of Norlarco and Huron Rivera Area, as well as attorneys for the real estate investors who say they were swindled by the Whitney get-rich programs. Whitney used cable and local television commercials to induce thousands of investors around the country to enroll in his real estate classes for as much as $10,000. These investors then bought properties in, among other developments, Cape Coral and Lehigh Acres, often from him, according to the company’s disclosures. The three credit unions helped further the scheme by providing millions of dollars–as much as $500 million–in mortgages. Many of those mortgages are in default because of a failure to pre-lease the properties, a key to the investment scheme. Lawyers representing Whitney did not return calls seeking comment.

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. - BCT FCU has agreed to finance babysitter's training through the American Red Cross. The credit union's $500 grant will allow the Red Cross to subsidize or waive the $40 fee for the monthly training course for kids 11-15.

RICHMOND, Ind. - Natco CU yesterday said it has selected Sedona Corp.'s Intarsia member relationship management application and services. The $50 million credit union uses the Sharetec System provided by Bradford-Scott Data Corp. as its core processor. Bradford-Scott distributes the Sharetec System from Minnesota based Sharetec Systems, Inc. to more than 300 credit unions.

LAKE JACKSON, Texas - Texas Dow Employees CU yesterday said it has installed Stewart Title's SureClose online mortgage management system. The system coordinates real estate professionals with lenders and title agents, allowing homebuyers and sellers to monitor the status of their loans and to receive their title policy, loan and deed documents at the same time as the purchase of their house. Officials with the $1.2 billion credit union said the system allows it to approve loans online in two minutes.

DURHAM, N.C. - Generations Community CU said it has contracted with EPL to provide it with a full suite of technology solutions that includes i-Power online core data processing system, home banking, bill payment, LoansPQ and XPress Accounts. The contract also includes EPL's web design and hosting services and CU-Dashboard. EPL is a subsidiary of the Alabama CU League.