DALLAS — The Credit Union of Texas said last week it had provided a $15,000 grant to the Dallas County Community College District, which will be used to finance student and marketing initiatives for the district's teacher education programs.

DES MOINES, Iowa - The Iowa CU League has joined forces with the AARP and national-level business and labor groups to spread financial education and encourage bickering politicians to work together for the common welfare.

LAS VEGAS - Foreclosures are still climbing in the United States with August filings double from the previous year, according to reports published by the Associated Press.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - The problems in the subprime mortgage market combined with the large-scale investments in failed home loans in Florida plaguing at least three credit unions have raised bigger questions about overall loan quality at credit unions, and whether more troubles are in the offing.

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Harvard ECU First With PayPass

BOSTON - Credit unions are bidding to join the lawsuit against TJX Companies that seeks millions of dollars in costs accrued in the company's massive data breach. SELCO Community CU, of Eugene, Ore., asked the federal court here to certify all credit unions and banks that received an alert from Visa or MasterCard related to the TJX breach for purposes of a class action suit against Fifth Third Bancorp, the cards processor for TJX. SELCO attorneys said in court documents Fifth Third, the nation's fourth-largest cards processor, was told of the breach by TJX on Dec. 26 or 27, 2006, but waited three weeks before it notified its credit union and bank customers. Fifth Third is the acquiring bank for TJX, acquiring and processing the national retailer's Visa and MasterCard accounts.

POINT PLEASANT BEACH, N.J. - Frank D'Alessandro, the southwest Florida developer who partnered with three now-failed credit unions in a multi-billion dollar land speculation was found floating in the ocean last week, the victim of an apparent accidental drowning.

San Dimas, Calif. ? Financial Service Centers Cooperative introduced its long-awaited connection to 7-Eleven stores last week, providing the nation's CUs with shared branching in 2,000 convenience stores around the country.

WASHINGTON - The House voted last week to expand federal backing of mortgages in hopes of helping struggling homeowners avoid foreclosure.

Raritan, N.J. ? A number of credit unions have received notice that Bank of America is shutting down accounts the CUs had come to rely on as an important source of liquidity.

LAS VEGAS - The number of foreclosures have more than doubled in the last year, and we haven't seen the worst of it yet, according to one financial consultant.

I read with great interest Frank J. Diekmann's editorial in the Credit Union Journal (CU Journal, Sept. 3) about how some current events are eerily similar to the S&L crisis of the 80's. Bear with me for some quick thoughts and observations. I lived and somehow survived that era to be reborn in 1998 as a credit union CEO. I can tell you that there was a lot of wheeling and dealing that caused the problem but there was also "regulatory" help along the way.

Global Credit Union, promoted Lisa Foote to branch manager in Vicenza, Italy.

CU Journal explored the advantages larger CUs have over their smaller brethren. Now, CUJ focuses on how some small CUs are not only surviving, but thriving.

PFCU Partners With Capital Mortgage

On Sept. 10, in the Credit Union Journal's daily news, there was a short article titled "Ensweiler Calls for National Cooperation to Build CU Membership." Dick Ensweiler is absolutely right. In fact this past spring I was contracted by CUNA to write the opening portion of a white paper on the merits of a credit union national branding effort. If you have an opportunity to read the white paper you will see that I believe in a national credit union brand. But it will only bring value to the industry if individual credit unions understand how to build on the CUNA national branding effort with their own local marketing and advertising.

LIVERPOOL, N.Y. - When it came to charting the future of her credit union, Theresa Benedict wasn't sure which elements were the most critical to success. That's when the CEO of the Liverpool Central Schools Federal Credit Union did what any good executive would do: she conducted a survey of her members to better understand their needs and wants as the first step toward improving services and increasing her membership base.

BUENA PARK, Calif. - All credit union CEOs expect their institution's assets to grow, but none expect a nearly 50% jump from one reporting period to the next.

LAS VEGAS - The Federal Reserve's Sept. 18 decision to cut the Federal Funds rate by 50 basis points was announced during WesCorp's Credit Union Outlook conference here. The Credit Union Journal asked attendees if they were surprised by the magnitude of the rate cut, and what it will mean to their CU.