NASHVILLE, Tenn. - CUNA Mutual Group believes it has a very strong story to tell regarding the bottom line benefits it can bring to credit unions with its ALM capabilities and investment management of excess credit union funds.

A credit union's brand is the place it holds in the minds of its members. In the same way, its internal brand, or culture, resides in the minds of its employees. Culture amounts to the written and unwritten rules that govern how employees behave, think and feel. The external and internal brand must be aligned because it's very difficult to deliver an exceptional member experience, without an exceptional staff experience.

FEDERAL WAY, Wash. - Ascend United, a broker of distressed loans for credit unions, said last week it is coordinating the purchase of millions of dollars in loans from failed subprime auto lender Centrix Financial in hopes of selling the loans on the secondary market.

MADISON, Wis. - Could it be that the long-awaited, much- vaunted "community charter effect" is finally being felt, helping to push credit union membership growth numbers up?

ST. PAUL, Minn. - More than 270 teachers, credit union representatives and agency staff attended financial education workshops sponsored by the Minnesota Credit Union Network (MnCUN) and the University of Minnesota Extension (UME), and supported by credit unions throughout the state.

WASHINGTON - Four Federal Home Loan banks awarded more than $30 million in affordable housing grants to members over the last few weeks-but not a cent of it to their credit union members.

WASHINGTON - A credit union executive testified before Congress last week against a proposal to rein in runaway fees charged by banks and credit unions for overdraft protection.

BURTON, Mich. - The more they save, the better chance members of ELGA CU have of winning the credit union's $10,000 Savings Account Sweepstakes.

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.

LAS VEGAS - The future of the credit union movement might be determined by the strengths of the networks CUs can establish, according to Tony Boutelle.

WARREN, OHIO - Seven Seventeen Credit Union Inc. recently hosted the first Teachers Academy, an initiative of State Treasurer Richard Cordray's office.

ENDICOTT, N.Y. - Professional of the Year, assets $150 million or more.

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.

CAMBODIA - Bill Raker, president and CEO of US Federal Credit Union in Minnesota, has returned from Cambodia where he was assessing prospective credit unions as part of the World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU)-Credit Union Foundation of Australia (CUFA) collaborative effort to foster credit union growth in the country.

LAS VEGAS - An increasing number of credit unions are moving to risk-based pricing and, not surprisingly, are seeing greater insight into assessing risk.

BILOXI, Miss. - A team of cash-strapped thieves withdrew an ATM-the whole machine-from the wall at the local shopping mall.

BATON ROUGE, La. - Federal Credit Union of the Year, assets less than $150 million

BENTONVILLE, Ark. - Retail giant Wal-Mart Stores has been quietly expanding its own co-branded ATM network, at the same time it is expanding its MoneyCenter branch network to 1,000 of its stores.

MADISON, Wis. - The average pay increase for credit union management broke the 4% barrier during 2006, topping wage increases of just less than 4% in previous years, according to a CUNA survey.

ORLANDO - Insight Financial Credit Union participated in the "Hearts of Gold" rock concert, helping to raise more than $226,000 for the Coalition for the Homeless of Central Florida.