MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif. – NCUA said yesterday it approved its biggest underserved expansion and one of the largest field of membership grants ever to allow Kinecta FCU serve the five million Angelinos surrounding the chain of check cashing outlets it is acquiring. The NCUA grant will facilitate the conversion of the 55 Nix Check Cashing outlets to full-service credit union branches, tripling the $4 billion credit union’s branch network. Kinecta announced yesterday it has completed the $45 million deal, the biggest ever of a credit union acquiring a check cashing operation. Earlier this year, nearby Wescom CU acquired a check cashing operation with eight outlets. “We will now be able to offer the opportunity of becoming a Kinecta Federal Credit Union member/owner to all of the Nix customers who live, work, or worship in the geographic areas around the Nix branches.” said Kinecta President and CEO Simone Lagomarsino. Plans call for the credit union to change name of the check cashing chain to Kinecta Alternative Financial Solutions, which will be run by Tom Nix, owner of the check cashing chain. Kinecta, known until 2004 as Hughes Aircraft Employees FCU, serves more than 1,000 select groups.

INDIANAPOLIS – The Federal Home Loan Bank of Indianapolis reported the rising cost of funds cut its second quarter earnings by 11% to $26 million. The Indianapolis Bank said it earned higher interest on its holdings but continued to pay a higher rate to member banks and credit unions, pushing down earnings for the first six months of the year by 14%, to $52.6 million. The FHLB continues to hold almost $10 billion of mortgages in its secondary market program, called Mortgage Purchase Program, down only slightly from last year.

ATLANTA – The Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta said yesterday it lifted the dividend for its second quarter, even as net income slid 13% to $93.2 million. The Atlanta Bank, which pays quarterly dividends out of retained earnings, paid a 6% dividend for the second quarter, up from 5.90% paid in each of the previous two quarters. For the second quarter the Atlanta Bank increased its retained earnings by $7 million, to $426 million. For the first two quarters of the year the Atlanta Bank reported 9% lower earnings, to $189 million.

BEDFORD, Mass. – EMC said its RSA online security arm has agreed to acquire Tablus, a San Mateo, Calif., provider of data leak protection. Tablus will add data discovery, monitoring and classification, and data loss prevention capabilities to RSA’s online security services. RSA, which was acquired last year by EMC, is itself the product of acquisitions of PassMark Security, Cyota and Valyd Software.

PORTLAND, Ore. – TRM Corp., once the second largest independent operator of ATMs, reported yesterday it trimmed its second quarter losses to $2.2 million and the company’s operations continue to decline. The company, which once operated as many as 22,000 ATMs, operated an average of just 9,136 machines in the second quarter as management contracts acquired from eFunds–including thousands connected to the CO-Financial Services network–began to expire. CO-OP Financial, the credit union-owned network, said it has been reducing its exposure to the ailing company and now has just 4,000 co-branded ATMs through TRM, down from a high of 8,000 at one time. “We are purposely diminishing that exposure,” Jim Hanisch, vice president of The CO-OP, told The Credit Union Journal yesterday. For the first two quarters of the year revenues declined at TRM by 19% to $46.4 million, compared to the first half last year, and net loss was $4.4 million, down from $6 million for the same period in 2006. Over the last year TRM has undergone a major restructuring, selling off its once-core copier rental business and its international ATM business, to focus on U.S. ATM operations.

DALLAS – TNB Card Services said yesterday it has acquired the $12 million credit card account from AFTRA-SAG FCU in another agent issuer deal. Credit union-owned TNB, which now manages cards programs for over 130 credit unions, has moved steadily into larger portfolios, acquiring in recent weeks the $8 million portfolio of Island FCU, the $15 million portfolio of CME FCU, and A+ FCU’s $16 million in cards receivables. AFTRA-SAG FCU was founded in 1962 to serve members of the American Federation of Television and Radio Actors and the Screen Actors Guild, the unions for Hollywood actors.

LENEXA, Kan. – U.S. Central CU said yesterday its Corporate Network eCom has signed with a deal with Metavante to resell the company’s electronic presentment and payment solution. Under the deal, eCom, a majority owned CUSO of U.S. Central, will convert its more than 200 credit union customers to Metavante’s system in 2008. The Metavante system will provide a broad range of functions, from remittance processing to a fully hosted electronic presentment and payment solution. Metavante is the wholly owned subsidiary of Marshall & Ilsley Bank that is about to be spun off into a separately traded company.

HOUSTON – Members Choice CU announced yesterday it signed a three-year contract with AT&T to upgrade its existing networking services and create a Virtual Private Network. The VPN services, which use Multiprotocol Label Switching technology to prioritize business-critical data, will connect the credit union’s six locations as well as a back-up site in central Texas. Members Choice is a $225 million credit union chartered in 1941 as Conoco Gulf Coast Employees FCU.

PORTSMOUTH, N.Y. – Members of Northeast CU are being contacted by an automated phone message scam that seeks to capture their personal account information. The latest ‘vishing’ attack tells members their payment and transfer services have expired, then asks for their 16-digit ATM, credit card or debit card numbers. The tactic is known as vishing because it is a variation of the online phishing attack that also seeks personal account information. The credit union is warning members the message is a scam and urges them not to divulge personal information over the phone.

BEDFORD, Mass. – Credit unions were the most frequently targeted financial institutions in the U.S. by online scammers during July, according to the RSA Anti-Fraud Command Center. The Center, a unit of online security provider EMC Corp., reported 39% of the phishing, pharming and other scams perpetrated against financial institutions were targeted at credit unions during July, versus 33% against regional U.S. banks and 28% versus nationwide U.S. banks. The percentage of attacks hosted in the U.S. continued to rise during July to 66%, according to RSA. RSA also is reporting what it calls an ‘interesting’ development in the underground community of fraudsters who create ‘phishing kits.’ It reported seeing an increase in the distribution of so-called Man-in-the-Middle kits that are created by a scammer and then distributed free to other scammers. The kits typically contain a backdoor, or string of code embedded into the kit that sends the phishing ‘results,’ usually stolen card numbers and credentials, not only to the user of the kit but also the creator.

WAYCROSS, Ga. – Atlantic Coast Bank, the former credit union shedding its mutual structure, postponed its planned second-step stock offering yesterday as its stock price continued to slide. The company, which was formerly Atlantic Coast FCU, halted its planned $200 million offering as its shares fell 6% yesterday to $12.65, down 18% since the June 29 announcement of the offering. The ex-credit union, which went public in 2004, is conducting the second step of a two-step process in which it first sold a minority of shares to the public, and will now float a majority of shares on the stock market. Robert Larison, the president and CEO, who engineered the conversion from credit union, said they will undergo the second step offering when market conditions are more stable, possibly in the fourth quarter, or the first quarter of 2008.

WASHINGTON – A Silver Spring, Md., man was found guilty by a federal jury last week of trying to pass two phony government checks totaling more than $8 million on Treasury Department FCU. Edward Brown, Jr., was convicted of bank fraud and uttering fictitious obligations and faces up to 25 years in prison when he is sentenced in October. Brown became a member at the Washington credit union on July 18, 2005, then returned two days later in an attempt to deposit a $2.9 million certified draft from the U.S. Treasury. Officials with credit union and federal agents subsequently told him the draft was worthless and attempts to deposit it were illegal. About seven months later he returned to the credit union and tried to deposit another phony U.S. Treasury check for $5.5 million, and he requested that part of the funds be wired to a settlement company in Maryland for the purchase of a $1.8 million property.

NEW HAVEN, Mass. – A Springfield, Mass., car dealer pleaded guilty in federal court to borrowing more than $425,000 from four area credit unions to buy fictitious or non-existent autos. Sean Roget, a 37-year-old national of Trinidad and Tobago, also known as Ricardo Saavedra, pleaded guilty to charges of bank fraud. Roget, who operated Riverside Auto Sales in Bristol, Ct., obtained loans for eight cars, including a 2002 and 2004 Porsche and a 2003 Mercedes; in some cases never owning the vehicles, in others the purchasers were fictitious. On the loan applications submitted to Comtrust FCU, Aldenville CU, Freedom CU and Fairfield County CU, he claimed the cars were being purchased from Riverside Auto Sales.

DALLAS – The Credit Union of Texas is providing interest-free loans to all teachers who are moving into the Dallas-Fort Worth school districts. The special loans are aimed at helping the newcomers bridge the gap to the first paycheck. The loans of up to $2,500 will be due after 12 months and pay must be deposited directly into a credit union account. Loans are available to teachers moving to Dallas, Collin, Rockwall and parts of Denton Counties.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – New Mexico Central CU said it contracted with TRC Interactive for the company’s online instruction through CreditUnionTrainingOnline. The credit union will have full use of the company’s “Training Central” learning management system. Training Central and CreditUnionTrainingOnline are combined to provide full management and tracking capabilities, and maintain records of all participants and administrative activity. TRC Interactive is based in Harrisburg, Pa.

BATON ROUGE, La. – La Capitol FCU has moved into its newly constructed headquarters on Main Street in the capital. The $320 million credit union plans to occupy about 45,000 feet in the five-story, 75,00 square-foot building. The old building was sold to the Louisiana Homebuilders Association.

TAMPA, Fla. – MacDill FCU will become the latest defense credit union to scrap its original military name next month when it becomes Grow Financial FCU. The $2 billion credit union agreed to shed the MacDill monicker–named for the air force base on which it was founded–because of confusion as to who from the hundreds of affiliated select groups and associations also are eligible to join, according to credit union officials. The branding change effort is being led by St. Louis-based NewGround and Atlanta-based Adrenaline. Advertising is scheduled to begin running over Labor Day weekend announcing the changes, and letters have also been sent to the CU’s 180,000 members.

NEW YORK – United Nations FCU said yesterday it has signed with three international credit unions based in Washington, D.C., to provide their members with a broad variety of insurance products. Under the deal, UNFCU Insurance Advisors, the credit union’s wholly owned CUSO, will offer property, casualty and liability products through Travelers, AG and MetLife to members of OAS Staff FCU, PAHO/WHO FCU and IDB HC FCU. UNFCU Insurance Advisors can provide insurance for members in the U.S. and those stationed in countries overseas. UNFCU, a $2.5 billion international credit union, formed the insurance CUSO last year to provide low-cost insurance products and services to other credit unions.

DES MOINES – The Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines said net income for its second quarter rose 5% to $23.1 million. As a result, the Des Moines Bank held its dividend steady at 4.24%, the same as the previous five quarters. For the first two quarters of the year, the Des Moines FHLB reported net income of $43.4 million, almost the same as the first six months last year.

CHANTILLY, Va. – Online Resources Corp. announced it has completed the acquisition of Integrated Transaction Solutions, a Columbus, Ohio-based online payments processor, for $45 million in stock and cash. ITS is a leading bill service provider to receivables management companies and utilities. Online Resources, which acquired Princeton eCom for $190 million last year, handles web-based financial services for 2,700 financial institutions, billers and credit service providers.