MILWAUKEE – NYCE EFT network announced yesterday it has signed with Fair Isaac & Co. to provide its Falcon account profiling software to its ATMs and point-of-sale terminals. The Fair Isaac system, known as CardAlert Fraud Manager, will help institutions and merchants detect and stop fraud in real-time, during the authorization process and before a loss is incurred, by determining the risk associated with individual devices. NYCE, a wholly owned subsidiary of Metavante, operates over 280,000 ATMs and 1.5 million POS locations.

HOUSTON – PULSE EFT Association said yesterday it is now offering lenders, utility companies and certain other billers a new payment option that allows consumers to automatically pay recurring bills using a debit card without entering their PIN. The company said the service increases convenience and security for debit cardholders, while simplifying the collection process for billers. Recurring payments are defined as those the cardholder has authorized a biller to charge to their debit card automatically. In addition, the network’s expanded PINless debit program includes a ‘Stop Pay’ feature that allows financial institutions to block transactions from a specific biller at the cardholder’s request.

NORTH CANTON, Ohio – Diebold said yesterday it was granted five U.S. patents that will allow consumers to use their cellphones to conduct ATM functions. The patents cover processes that will enable consumers to use their cellphones to locate and get directions to the nearest ATM, to withdraw cash, generate electronic checks to pay for goods or services, transmit wireless payments, and conduct other transactions more securely and conveniently than they do now. The ATM manufacturer said it is in talks to provide these applications.

DES MOINES, Iowa – A $425,000 grant from an anonymous donor will fund a pilot program to introduce Individual Development Accounts to Iowa credit unions. The fund will be used by the Iowa CU Foundation to help seven credit unions enroll 186 low-income families over the next three years in the program, which provides matching federal funds for savers. The grant will be used to fund the savers’ contribution. Emily Oliver, spokeswoman for the Iowa League, said the donor has insisted on anonymity. "We don’t even know who it is," she told The Credit Union Journal.

DENVER – Regulators are working to determine the extent of credit union losses in what amounts to a multi-billion dollar Florida real estate bust that has already claimed three medium-sized credit unions. NCUA reported two of the failed credit unions, Colorado’s Norlarco CU and Michigan’s Huron River Area FCU, continue to hold as much as $468 million in loans tied to the huge developments, Cape Coral and Lehigh Acres, located a few miles from the Gulf of Mexico, near Fort Myers, Fla. A third failure, New Horizons Community FCU, was sold by NCUA earlier in June after the federal regulator agreed to assume millions of dollars of its loans. NCUA and state regulators also are tracking the dozens of credit unions that had bought shares or participated in the loans made by the three institutions. One credit union, Superior Choice CU in Wisconsin, sued Norlarco in federal court last month to recover a $12.2 million loan participation gone bad. Yesterday, Chris Myklebust, Colorado commissioner of financial services, defended the secret takeover of Norlarco. "It was not the standard agency conservatorship," said Myklebust, of the May takeover of the state’s eight-largest credit union, only made public last week. The purpose of the extraordinary secret conservatorship, he said, was to limit any run on the bank. "We’re trying to save the institution. We didn’t want to raise any wide concern among the members," Myklebust told The Credit Union Journal regarding the $375 million credit union. NCUA, which makes its conservatorships public immediately, said it deferred to the state regulator because the credit union is a state charter. During the months since the May conservatorship of Norlarco real estate delinquencies have risen to more than 30% and losses went from $3 million to $5.2 million.

SAN FRANCISCO--Patelco CU is offering free remittances on funds sent to Mexico through Sept. 30 to assist victims of Hurricane Dean. Patelco recently began offering a remittance program on which it typically charges a $7.50 flat fee per month; a savings or checking account is required. "When we learned that Hurricane Dean was causing major damage particularly in the smaller parts of Mexico, we decided to offer our new remittance product, free of charge, as a way to help our community—here and in Mexico," said Carol Highton, Chief of Strategic Innovation.

PORTLAND, Ore. – An ex-con on parole for a bank robbery sentence was arrested this week in connection with as many as eight credit union robberies in the past two months. Marc Rzegocki, 54, nicknamed ‘CU Tattoo’ because of his heavily tattooed arms, was identified by an anonymous tipster who saw his face broadcast on local television. Rzegocki was on federal parole after serving 21 years for bank robbery. The CU Tattoo is believed responsible for recent hold-ups at Rivermark CU (twice), Oregonians CU, Oregon Pioneer CU, Unitus CU, Advantis CU and Pacific Cascades FCU.

LAS VEGAS – Nevada Federal Credit Union was named a “Diversity Champion” at the Southern Nevada Hispanic Employment Program’s (SNHEP) recent annual award ceremony here. The award recognizes organizations that support SNHEP’s mission to educate, employ and develop the Hispanic community, thereby enhancing the economic development of Southern Nevada. “Nevada Federal is proud to share in SNHEP’s commitment to be a valued and comprehensive community resource,” said NFCU Community Outreach Manager Rosi Chicas. In selecting NFCU for this award, SNHEP highlighted the volunteer support NFCU gives to the program and to the Las Vegas community as a whole.

HARTFORD, Conn. – A man who schemed to steal subscriber information from America Online members, then used the information to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars from bank and credit union accounts, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and identity theft charges last week. Twenty-three-year-old Kevin Dolan admitted he and his accomplices stole credit card, bank and credit union account, and Social Security numbers, as well as other personal information, through an elaborate spamming and phishing scheme that targeted AOL members. The suspects used AOL accounts to send phony online greeting cards purporting to be from Hallmark.com that surreptitiously downloaded a software Trojan onto the victim’s account when they opened it. The Trojan would prevent legitimate AOL subscribers from logging on to AOL without first entering their name, credit card number, bank or credit union account number and Social Security number. Dolan and his accomplices used the information to order products online and to produce phony debit cards, which were used at ATMs and local retailers.

CLARKTON, N.C. – The last of four suspects who used dynamite to access a North Carolina SECU ATM here last December–but failed to get at the cash–pleaded guilty to the failed robbery attempt. The group jammed dynamite into the door frame of the ATM housing and broke open the door, but when they tried to insert dynamite into the door protecting the cash the explosive wouldn’t detonate. The group was arrested shortly after the blast when police spotted the SUV they were driving. The four are scheduled to be sentenced this fall.

RALEIGH, N.C. – State Employees CU reported another kind of housing boom here–the sale of more than 50,000 Bluebird houses. The money raised, an estimated $500,000, will go to benefit the Eastern Bluebird Rescue Group, which helps replace the tiny birds’ natural habitats that are being destroyed by the depletion of tress and natural forests. The Bluebird houses are still being sold in all 213 branches of the credit union.

BALTIMORE – State Employees CU announced it has granted a total of $20,000 in 10 scholarships, including an $8,000 grant to one state employee. Granting of the scholarships was based on a 750-1,000 word essay question addressing one of the following three topics: how SECU can deepen its financial relationships with college students or state employees; the benefits of financial education in various stages of one’s education; and your favorite financial product or service and how that product or service helped you.

NEWARK, Calif. – Technology CU is celebrating the opening of its tenth branch with a variety of promotions, including a Community Beautification Project that will help spruce up targeted communities. The first project will be a United We Paint initiative in which volunteers will paint a home-based daycare facility here owned by a well-known breast cancer survivor. The $1.3 billion credit union also will offer a grand opening sweepstakes which will give away a $1,500 shopping spree at the local shopping center, a Nintendo Wii, gift baskets and more. In addition, new members signing up at the Newark branch can take out a CD with a 6% rate for six months.

PAW PAW, Mich. – Allegis CU and the Paw Paw Optimist Club have teamed up to collect school supplies for needy students during a ‘Friends of the Youth’ backpack fundraiser. The drive runs through Sept. 8 and seeks donations of any available school supplies for students in grades six through 12. The Paw Paw Optimist Club was founded in 1974 in downtown Paw Paw to provide assistance for kids in the area.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – PSCU Financial Services, the cards processor for more than 1,100 credit unions, said yesterday it has developed an educational program to advertise and market to so-called Generation Yers, those Americans between the ages of 12 and 30. The CUSO has created a series of Webinars to teach credit union professionals how to reach this media-savvy, but ad-weary group. Topics include: blogs, viral marketing, social networking outlets and the power of myspace.com.

FT. MYERS, Fla. – The scandal surrounding a failed land speculation deal here continued to grow yesterday with the revelation that a third failed credit union, New Horizons Community CU, was also involved, making NCUA, which has taken over all three credit unions, liable for millions of dollars in losses. New Horizons was a $320 million Denver credit union taken over by NCUA earlier last year, then sold in a purchase and assumption agreement to Security Service FCU, the San Antonio credit union with a large presence in Colorado. In a so-called P&A deal, NCUA provides financial assistance to a credit union to acquire a failed institution and the regulator assumes the failed institution’s bad liabilities. The federal regulator is said to be shopping two other credit unions it has taken over in recent months, Norlarco CU, in Colorado, and Huron River Area FCU, in Michigan, both of which made hundreds of millions in loans to investors in the failed Florida development. The three are alleged in civil suits to have participated in a massive land swindle in which speculators from around the country were enrolled in a real estate investment program, called Millionaire University. Enrollees at Millionaire U were purportedly taught how to profit from the Florida land boom by buying pre-leased homes in Ft. Myers-area developments Cape Coral and Lehigh Acres, then flipping them within a year at a higher price. The speculators, from as far as Boston, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Maryland, Ohio and Missouri, claim they were duped by the promoters and the lenders, which also included several banks. The once-hot property development, located inland from the Gulf of Mexico, has since gone bust, with thousands of property owners walking away from their loans, leaving a veritable ghost town behind. A lawyer for the plaintiffs in one of the New Horizons suits said she is transferring the case from the state court in Ft. Myers to the federal court because of jurisdiction. A lawyer representing NCUA refused to comment.

WASHINGTON - CUNA reported that its top management received average raises of 5% last year, moving CUNA President Dan Mica to the cusp of a $1 million salary.

RIVERWOODS, Ill. - Discover Financial Services, the electronic funds network spun off from Morgan Stanley two months ago, is recommending stockholders against participating in a "mini-tender offer" launched for its shares, warning the offering price is too low. TRC Capital offered $22 a share, below last Tuesday's $23.10 price, and well below the $28 the shares went public on June 14.

WALL STREET - The crisis in the mortgage industry has been slow to take hold among credit unions, but they are weighing the impact of the meltdown. Countrywide, which announced lay-offs this week, has correspondent relationships with hundreds of credit unions. American Home Mortgage, which shut down two weeks ago, had loan offices in more than 50 CUs after telling its bank and credit union customers it could no longer fund mortgages to which it had committed. (c) 2007 The Credit Union Journal and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved. http://www.cujournal.com http://www.sourcemedia.com

Throughout 2007, the Credit Union Journal is profiling the credit unions of each U.S. state and D.C. Rather than appear in alphabetical order, the states are being featured in the order they became states.