DES MOINES – Al Jordan, who helped found the old Western Union Employees CU almost 70 years ago, then went on to head the Iowa CU League, celebrated his 100th birthday yesterday. A.W. (Al) Jordan’s credit union career spanned seven decades. He served as treasurer of the old Western Union Employees CU from its founding in 1938 until he joined the staff of the Iowa League in 1953. While with the credit union he served as vice president of the League board and president of the Central Iowa Chapter of Credit Unions. Jordan joined the Iowa League in the early 1950's as a field man, helping to organize new credit unions and help existing ones with operations. When the Managing Director (the League’s chief executive) resigned in 1953, the board named Jordan temporary Managing Director. The appointment was made official in 1954, with the title later being changed to President. After his retirement in 1981, Jordan served as president of the National Association of Retired CU People, or NARCUP.

COEUR d’ALENE, Idaho – Global CU pledged $15,000 to the Coeur d’Alene Area Chamber of Commerce Building Fund. The contributions will go towards the Chamber's new downtown building, slated for completion later this month. The Chamber broke ground on the 12,000 square-foot building in 2006.

ATLANTA – Electronic payments giant CheckFree, which agreed last week to be acquired by Fiserv, reported Friday that higher expenses cut its fiscal fourth quarter net income by 5%, to $27.9 million, or 32 cents a share. Fourth quarter revenues rose a strong 23% to $276.7 million. But expenses for the fourth quarter surged 29% to $232.4 million, compared to the fourth quarter last year. For the full year, CheckFree reported an 11% rise in revenues to $972.6 million, but a 2% decline in net income, to $124.4 million, or $1.41 a share. CheckFree announced Thursday it has agreed to be acquired by Fiserv for $48 a share, or about $4.2 billion.

FAIRBORN, Ohio – Wright-Patt CU has introduced a mortgage program aimed at getting more active-duty military and military veterans into their own homes. The ‘Hero’sChoice Home Loan’ is designed to be an alternative to Veterans Administration loans, but with streamlined pricing, a lower funding fee of 1.50%, the ability to borrow 103% loan-to-value, and lender paid mortgage insurance through CMG Mortgage Insurance, which is a partner in the program. The loan is being offered through Wright-Patt’s CUSO, Wright-Patt Financial Group.

BOSTON – Massachusetts became the latest state to tire of waiting for congressional action and pass its own comprehensive identity theft legislation. The new law, signed by Gov. Deval Patrick last week, will require that parties to a data breach notify their customers in a timely manner. The law also gives consumers the right to freeze their credit file, something a dozen other states allow to prevent new accounts from being fraudulently opened, and puts into effect strict new standards for safeguarding consumer information.

BATTLE CREEK, Mich. – Kellogg Community FCU notified members last week that a computer containing personal information was stolen during a break-in at a vendor last month. A letter sent to an undisclosed number of members said the computer was stolen along with other items from a third-party service provider. A file containing some members’ names, addresses, telephone numbers, birth dates, social security numbers and account numbers was on the computer’s hard drive, the letter said. The credit union is working with law enforcement agencies to investigate.

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Members of Tennessee Valley FCU were notified Friday that phone calls they may be receiving requesting personal information about their accounts are not from the credit union and should be disregarded. The so-called vishing attempts stated the credit union had temporarily suspended their payment services and urged they call a toll-free number to restore service. A recording at the toll-free number requests account numbers and PINs. Vishing is similar to Internet phishing schemes, except they are conducted by phone. Credit union officials said they are working with local law enforcement and the FBI to investigate the fraud.

MELVILLE, N.Y. – Dozens of credit unions were searching for new funding sources for mortgages they already have approved after Friday’s closure of American Home Mortgage Corp. The company, which provides mortgages for dozens of credit unions, shut down Friday after its lenders refused to fund as much as $800 million in new mortgages it committed to make through its customer credit unions and banks. At least one credit union customer, Members CU in North Carolina, said the mortgage lender was still trying to fund mortgages it had committed to at three of the credit union’s branches. American Home acquired mortgage offices in more than 50 credit unions when it acquired Irwin Mortgage Corp. last year. The company reported Thursday that it will reduce its work force from more than 7,000 to 750, mostly at its Long Island headquarters, but will maintain its thrift and servicing businesses.

FRESNO, Calif. -- A state appeals ruled last week that Tucoemas FCU must pay the full $3.2 million judgment to a former executive who claimed she was discriminated against while she was recovering from breast cancer. The credit union already has paid $2 million in compensatory damages, but had appealed the $1.2 million verdict on punitive damages, claiming as a federal credit union they are considered an entity of the federal government protected by sovereign immunity. In her suit, Kim McGee, a 17-year employee and former vice president of lending who had surgery and was undergoing chemotherapy, claimed the credit union refused to provide her with medical accommodations and threatened to fire her if she needed more than four months to recuperate. The credit union held her job for the four months while waiting for her to return to work. McGee said she tried to meet the demands of her boss but was demoted to a part-time position requiring greater physical activity, her pay was cut in half and her medical insurance cancelled.

ONTARIO, Calif. – Officials with Financial Services Centers Cooperative are working out the kinks of their connection to self-service kiosks in 7-Eleven convenience stores in preparation for one of the biggest expansions ever of credit union access later this month. “All indications are that this is going to be a gigantic success,” Sarah Canepa-Bang, president of the shared branching network, told The Credit Union Journal Friday. “Testing so far this summer has gone exceptionally well.” Plans call for the connection of 1,700 self-service Vcom machines inside 7-Elevens by the end of August, and as many as 400 later on, said Canepa-Bang. She said the recent acquisition of the machines and the rest of 7-Eleven’s ATM business by Cardtronics will not affect the plans. The 7-Eleven deal with FSCC will almost double the number of branches/touchpoints available over the shared branch network, which will provide surcharge-free ATM access to any credit union member.

NEWARK, N.J. – A former investment banker was sentenced to two years in prison and ordered to forfeit $11 million in profits Friday for a scheme to illegally qualify for initial public offerings of 65 mutual savings banks–including eight converted credit unions. Bert Fingerhut, the 64-year-old former executive with Oppenheimer & Co., pleaded guilty to paying his childhood friend and his nephew to travel the country and execute a variety of methods to qualify for depositor status in the banks, in speculation they would eventually go public in initial public offerings. The case reinforces suspicions among credit union executives and volunteers that speculators and other well-heeled outsiders are easily able to gain access the lucrative stock offerings of converted credit unions at the expense of long-time members. Among the 65 offerings were the 1999 IPO for Jade Financial (IGA FCU); the 2002 IPOs for First PacTrust Bancorp (Pacific First FCU) and of Synergy Financial (Synergy FCU); the 2003 IPO for Rainier Pacific Financial Group (Rainier Pacific CU); the 2004 IPOs for K-Fed Bancorp (Kaiser Permanente Employees FCU) and of Atlantic Coast Federal (Atlantic Coast FCU); the 2005 IPO for Heritage Financial Group (AGE FCU) and the 2006 IPO for Viewpoint Bank (Community CU). Federal savings bank regulations give depositors first crack at IPOs. The 65 offerings were all oversubscribed, so Fingerhut’s actions deprived legitimate depositors of access to the lucrative stock offerings. Regulators called it the most extensive bank conversion fraud they'd ever seen. Fingerhut, who retired to Aspen, Colo., in 1984 at the age of 40, conducted the scheme over a ten-year period. Also pleading guilty was Fingerhut’s childhood friend, Robert Danetz, a retired New York City schoolteacher.

EL PASO, Texas — Government Employees CU is wrestling with the FBI and the head of a local business over a $77,000 forfeiture tied to an FBI corruption case.

SAN ANTONIO — As part of a membership drive here, Security Service FCU is offering five members the chance to win not just $5,000 for themselves, but another $5,000 for the school of their choice.

LAS VEGAS – The next generation of technology can help credit unions reach the much-sought-after next generation. That was the message from the two opening keynote speakers at the CUNA Technology Council’s Summit here Thursday. Randy Harrington, CEO of Eugene, Ore.-based Extreme Arts & Sciences, said CUs should increase interactivity on their Web sites. “Young people like generating their own content. Interactivity is winning; just receiving content is losing. Credit unions should interact with social networks, rather than households.” Robb Gaynor, VP and general manager of consumer solutions for Calabasas, Calif.-based Digital Insight, said credit union Web sites must move from using online banking as a “necessity,” or defensive strategy, to making it a strategic “hub.” He suggested CUs follow the model of online retailers by tracking preferences and serving up content members most likely want to see. “The benefit for credit unions is a fundamental change of the relationship between them and their members.”

SAN FRANCISCO – Cards giant Visa, preparing to go public, reported net income yesterday for the first two quarters of its fiscal year of $526.1 million, on $2.4 billion of revenues, in the first public look at the company’s financial statements. In comparison, MasterCard reported first half net income of $467.2 million on $1.9 billion in revenues. For Visa, the largest portion of revenues over the six month period ended March 31 was the $1.2 billion from card services fees, while $745 million came from data processing fees. For the first six months of the fiscal year, payment volume was up 19% and the number of transactions was up 15%. For the fiscal year ended September 30, 2006, Visa reported net income of $465.4 million on $3.9 billion in revenues. Revenues included $2.1 billion in card services fees and $1.4 billion in processing fees. Visa said that four large banks, JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Citibank and Wells Fargo accounted for as much as 25% of its business in the U.S. The four bank giants, along with U.S. Bancorp and National City Corp., own almost 45% of Visa USA, which is being combined under the going public process with Visa Canada and Visa Europe, to form Visa Inc. The financials reported were pro forma for the combined entities.

TUCSON, Ariz. – Meriwest CU said yesterday that the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco awarded a $250,000 grant to an affordable housing project it is sponsoring in this community. The Old Pueblo Community Foundation will use the funds to purchase the Glenn Street Apartments which will serve as transitional housing for homeless men. Meriwest, as member of the FHLB, sponsored Old Pueblo’s application for the grant.

CLEVELAND – The former loan manager at Shaker Heights CU was indicted yesterday on fraud charges in connection with the alleged theft of $132,600 from the credit union. From 1998 to 2006, prosecutors say 57-year-old Gregory Zgnoc served as the credit union's sole loan manager. Zgnoc was indicted on one count of aggravated theft by deception, a third degree felony. He was also indicted on three counts of identity theft, also third degree felonies.

VIRGINIA BEACH – Two suspects were arrested Wednesday and charged with armed robberies at three area credit unions and one former credit union last month. The two were arrested in a local hotel after a call to the local crime line. They are suspected in robberies at Chartway FCU, Hampton Roads Catholic FCU, CU Service Center, and Bank @lantic, a former credit union-turned savings bank. The suspects were identified as: Arthur Kortlang, 54, and Maureen Carrier, 44.

LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y. – DealerTrack, the provider of online financing resources for auto lending, said yesterday second quarter earnings rose 35% to $6.3 million, or 15 cents a share, fueled by a 35% surge in revenues, to $58.5 million. In the second quarter the number of active financing sources in DealerTrack’s network increased to 380, up 56% from a year ago, and the number of dealers in the network rose 3% to 22,630. The second quarter highlights included the company’s acquisition of Arkona, a Utah-based provider of auto dealer management systems. For the first six months of the year DealerTrack reported a 36% rise in revenues, to $110.2 million, and a 37% rise in net income, to $11.1 million, or 27 cents a share.

BATON ROUGE, La. – Students at Louisiana State University are being invited to a ‘Recarding Party’ held by Campus FCU where they can switch their University ID to a new one-card provided by the credit union. The new ‘Tiger Card’ will serve as identification around the University and the credit union will give students the option of opening an account to use it for an ATM/pin-based debit card. University officials are touting the new one-card as a convenience for students and a way to reduce the number of cards they carry. All incoming freshmen are being urged to get a new Tiger Card in order to have ATM access. The initial card is free and will be required for access to the library, football games, riding the bus, school work, test labs and parking.