INDIAN WELLS, Calif. - Lending innovation is the heart of sustainable CU growth, according to Judy Tharp, but she acknowledges defining the term can be difficult.

LAS VEGAS - Credit unions looking to add more auto loans need to know what "scars" automobile dealers carry from past experiences, and why some hesitate to refer loans to CUs.

MILWAUKEE - Metavante Corp., which is preparing to go public in a spin-off from Marshall & Ilsley, has hired Timothy Oliver, a 39-year-old treasurer at nearby Rockwell Automation, as its new chief financial officer. Oliver will report directly to Frank Martire, the former Fiserv executive who will be Metavante's CEO. Metavante is a conglomerate of financial service companies acquired over the last three years by M&I, including the NYCE electronic payments network, the Endpoint Exchange electronic check clearing network, and several others.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Citing provisions of the landmark 1998 credit union bill, a group purporting to represent credit unions filed suit in federal court here last week challenging NCUA's new rules on the conversion to mutual savings bank.

PENSACOLA, Fla. - Pen Air Federal Credit Union here in the panhandle of the Sunshine State has taken its Kids Club a step further with the creation of a teller window just for small savers.

GROVEPORT, Ohio - Professional of the Year, assets less than $150 million

WASHINGTON - It would take 313 years at the Treasury's 2007 estimate of $1.4 billion for the annual credit union tax exemption amount to equal the total amount taxpayers forked over to deal with the savings and loan crisis, according to results of a new CUNA analysis of the recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on banking activities.

ATLANTA - Looking for new ways to reach underserved markets? Try in-store branches. That's the conclusion of new research from SYNERGISTICS Research Corp.

HARRISBURG, Penn. - One credit union was ready to do whatever needed to help its members when warned of a budget impasse.

LAS VEGAS - The retail automotive industry continues to show strength which, according to one expert, will mean auto loans will remain a vital part of credit union portfolios.

Since its inception in 1967, NAFCU has led the charge to ensure a solid voice for federal credit unions and to protect challenges to their interests and those of their members.

Hearings

PHOENIX - Mike Feeney lost his sight 17 years ago, yet almost every weekday he is at a cash register at Desert Schools Federal Credit Union's employee cafeteria.

MADISON, Wis. - What should credit unions be doing to leverage the recent uptick in membership growth?

MADISON, Wis. - World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU) CEO Pete Crear shared insights with a group meeting in India via a teleconference connection. Participating in the Digital Video Conference on Self-help Groups in India, Crear, president and CEO of World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU), shared insights from the US credit union experience in microfinance with Indian counterparts gathered in Chennai, India.

JULY

Credit Union Journal's new website at www.cujournal.com features an interactive online survey that is updated each week. On this page are some of the surveys that have been conducted so far this year. CU Journal uses these surveys to keep a finger on the pulse of the credit union movement. Subscribers can access all past surveys on the website. Be sure to check back at www.cujournal.com frequently so you can weigh in on some of the top issues facing credit unions today.

LAS VEGAS - The apparent inaction by NCUA during the credit union movement's first hostile takeover attempt earlier this year actually was an example of it performing proper due-diligence, according to NCUA Chairman JoAnn Johnson.

HOUSTON - Cardtronics, now the largest provider of ATM services to credit unions, announced it will make the nation's largest fleet of ATMs accessible to the blind by 2010 under an agreement with the National Federation for the Blind. The agreement, which ends years of litigation, requires 23,350 ATMs located in places like drugstores and train stations to be equipped with a voice guidance feature that can be activated by plugging headphones into a jack on the machines. The National Federation of the Blind will monitor the progress of Cardtronics in making the machines accessible.

MADISON, Wis. — What should credit unions be doing to leverage the recent uptick in membership growth?