JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Jax FCU was apologizing to more than 7,500 members last week whose personal information was accidentally exposed on Google. Gerri Sexsion, president of the $300 million credit union, said they had sent the information, including names and social security numbers, on a fourth of their members, to a third-party printer for a mailing on pre-approved auto loans. The information was sent over the Internet to the printer’s website, where the printer received its customers’ files, which were available over the Internet search engine Google. The information was apparently exposed on Google from May 8, when it was sent to the printer, until May 21 when Google removed it, said Sexsion. So far, there has been no evidence that the information has gotten into the wrong hands. The credit union has sent alerts to all of the credit bureaus on the affected accounts, she said. In addition, the credit union of providing each of the members with two free years of LifeLock, an identity theft prevention and resolution service. “I think we’re doing a good job at containing the problem and we’re helping our members through it,” Sexsion told The Credit Union Journal Friday.

EL PASO, Texas – The El Paso Affordable Housing CUSO, a collaborative of eight area credit unions, and Wells Fargo will be providing affordable mortgages to low- and moderate-income families under a new program launched last week by local development organizations. Under the unique program, students at El Paso Community College will build new homes, which will be sold to qualified buyers at below market prices. The home will be built at energy efficient Energy Star specifications, as determined by state and federal agencies. The program is being funded by the grants from the Wells Fargo Housing Foundation and the Meadows Foundation. Participants must take a two-part series of classes in financial literacy and home ownership. Participants in the El Paso Affordable Housing CUSO, which provides a variety of programs and services for the area’s low- and moderate-income families, are: Government Employees CU of El Paso, First Light FCU, West Texas CU, El Paso Area Teachers FCU, One Source FCU, El Paso Employees FCU, Mountain Star FCU and Golden Key FCU.

BROCKTON, Mass. – Executives from HarborOne CU will appear with state officials this morning to unveil a ‘multicultural banking center,’ one of the first initiatives in the country to offer a comprehensive set of financial education courses targeting various immigrant groups. The HarborOne project will provide classes in personal finance, foreclosure prevention and credit counseling in English, Spanish, Portuguese and French, and courses in English as a second language. Brockton is a blue-collar city teeming with large populations of Spanish, Portuguese and Cape Verdean immigrants. The aim of the center, according to officials with the $1.4 billion credit union, is to draw these groups into the mainstream of financial services and to teach them how to avoid expensive check-cashing, payday loan, pawnshops and rent-to-own providers. Participants in the program will be eligible for special loan and savings programs offered by HarborOne. The center will be located in HaborOne’s branch on Legion Highway. HarborOne’s President James Blake will officially launch the program today, accompanied by Steven Antonakes, the state’s Banking Commissioner, and Daniel Crane, director of the Massachusetts Office of Consumer Affairs, and representatives of several non-profit organizations serving the same clientele.

By Michael Bartlett, Reporter

FORT WORTH, Texas – American Airlines FCU the thriving $4 billion credit union serving the nation’s air transportation industry, announced yesterday it has hired Angela Owens as the heir apparent to long-time president and CEO John Tippets.

ELGIN, Ill. – Lending Solutions, the provider of online loan services, said yesterday it signed three more credit unions for its call center products. They are: Altra CU, La Crosse, Wis.; Anheuser-Busch Employees CU, St. Louis; and Four Seasons FCU, Opelika, Fla. Lending Solutions currently serves more than 300 credit unions, banks and mortgage lenders.

SAN DIMAS, Calif. – Christian Community CU announced it has contributed $18,000 to American Baptist Women’s Ministries to provide leadership training in Spanish and for young women’s ministries. The contribution comes from the $440 million credit union’s credit and debit card program which donates a portion of interchange income. The credit union’s ‘Cards that Give to Missions & Ministries’ program has donated more than $2 million to national and international ministry projects, disaster relief efforts, church planting, college and seminary scholarships.

LEWISTON, Idaho – Potlach No. 1 FCU said yesterday it has agreed to sell its credit card portfolio to Elan Financial Services, a unit of U.S. Bancorp. The portfolio has more than 5,000 accounts and $6.6 million in receivables. Elan Financial manages cards programs for more than 170 credit unions.

ROMULUS, Mich. – Public Service CU said yesterday it has awarded $14,000 in college scholarships--$1,000 each to 14 students. The scholarship program was expanded this year from the two $1,000 awards traditionally awarded. It was also opened for the first time to everyone furthering their education, including adults attending vocational schools.

WATERLOO, Iowa – Veridian CU, the state’s largest credit union, announced it is opening its 22nd branch, and its first in the Iowa City area. The new branch is scheduled to open in October inside the Hy-Vee store in Iowa City. The credit union, formerly John Deere Community CU, is the state’s largest with over $1.2 billion in assets.

MIRAMAR, Fla. – Eastern Financial Florida CU announced yesterday it is expanding into northern Florida with the acquisition of OMNI Community CU, a $50 million Jacksonville credit union. The deal gives the $2 billion credit union giant 8,000 new members and three branches in the Jacksonville, and adds the northern Florida counties of Duval, Clay, St. Johns and Nassau to its current FOM of Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Pinellas an Hillsborough counties. Eastern Financial Florida serves 225,000 members in 950 member companies at 32 branches.

McLEAN, Va. – Long-term mortgage rates rose this week, for the fourth week in a row, to their highest level since last September, according to Freddie Mac. The average for the 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage increased to 6.42% this week, from 6.37% last week’ while the average for the 15-year, fixed-rate loan moved to 6.12%, from 6.06%. ARM rates were mixed, with the average for the five-year ARM climbing to 6.19^, from 6.02% last week; and the average for the one-year ARM dipping slightly to 5.57%, from 5.64%.

ALBANY, N.Y. – A long-shot attempt to tax federally chartered credit unions in New York died a quick death—just two weeks after it was introduced. The bill was withdrawn by its sponsor, Sen. Thomas Morahan. The bill was a long-shot because state legislatures can only tax state chartered credit union and are not authorized to tax federal credit unions—only Congress can do that.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Fidelity National Information Services, the provider of back-office services to credit unions and banks, has acquired privately held AssetExchange, the Portland, Ore.-based broker of the sale of credit union card portfolios. Under the deal, AssetExchange will retain its staff and offices and is expanding its business to also offer credit unions consulting on other cards options to retain their portfolios, according to William Koo, president of AssetExchange. “We’re keeping the business model mostly intact,” Koo told The Credit Union Journal yesterday. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The brokering of card sales can be a lucrative business, with brokers often earning as much as 200 basis points to 300 basis points of the value of the portfolio. AssetExchange, which has brokered the sale of more than 100 credit union portfolios in its six years in business, also brokers deals for banks and thrift.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Title insurance giant Fidelity National Financial announced yesterday it is teaming up again with private equity fund Thomas H. Lee Partners to acquire Ceridian Corp., the provider of human resources and payroll services and a major partner of credit unions, for $5.3 billion. The two entities had teamed up previously to create Fidelity National Information Services, the back-office service provider for credit unions and banks that was spun off from Fidelity’s title insurance business last year. Ceridian provides payroll services for dozens of credit unions and is the parent of Comdata, a payments processor and card issuer. Under the deal, Ceridian shareholders will receive $36 for their shares, a 17% premium over the price on Feb. 12, when the company put itself on the market.

RICHMOND, Va. – Five East European nationals were charged with skimming card information from a neighborhood gas station, then using the information to withdraw $620,000 from credit union and bank ATMs, which was wired overseas to Russia and Armenia. The gang drained funds from more than 500 accounts at Virginia CU, SunTrust Bank, Bank of America BB&T and Wachovia, according to federal indictments unsealed yesterday. The leader of the gang, identified as Gagik Urutyan, 21, took a job at Miller’s Neighborhood Market has station in Mechanicsville, Va., last August , where he allegedly used a card skimmer to obtain card information at the gas pump, according to the indictment. He and his alleged accomplices then created bogus cards, which they used to tap ATMs up and down the east coast; Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Indicted as co-conspirators were: Gevork Gasparyan, 25, Anton Mesropyan, 24, Sargis Poghosyan, 24 and Gevorg Ghazaryan. Urutyan and Mesropyan have been arrested and are awaiting trial, while the others are fugitives.

COLORADO SPRINGS -- CO-OP Financial Services has reached an agreement with Costco, the warehouse retailer, to provide access to surcharge-free ATMs at the company's stores, the credit union-owned company announced during its annual meeting here yesterday. The agreement will involve more than 300 stores nationally, with the exception of stores in Washington and Oregon where agreements with banks are already in place. “The demographics are attractive and it’s a very compatible relationship,” said CEO Stan Hollen, during yesterday meeting.. CO-OP is also preparing to announce expansion into credit card processing services during the third quarter of this year. "Credit cards are something we feel very strongly we should be into," Hollen told the Credit Union Journal. "It's right for us and it's value added. We plan to be very price competitive." Separately, CO-OP announced it is paying its 1,035 credit union owners a $12.1 cash dividend and a $9.8 million allocated equity dividend. CO-OP reported an 11% increase in net income last year to $26 million. There are almost 2,000 credit unions participating in the system.

WALL STREET – Fitch Ratings said yesterday it upgraded the long-term Default Rating of Constitution Corporate FCU to ‘AA-‘ from ‘A+’ as a result of the $2 billion corporate’s capital-raising campaign, and is low risk profile. The Connecticut corporate has improved its capital position in the past few years, with the raising of $31 million in 2005, including a $23 million membership capital share deposit offering. In addition, said Fitch, Constitution Corporate has improved its profitability, despite the challenging interest rate environment. At year-end 2006, total capital was 7.14% and retained earnings was 3%, above NCUA’s 5% and 2% minimum requirements. Although the ratios are below the average for corporate credit unions, Fitch views Constitution’s capital as in line with its peers.

BAYTOWN, Texas – John M. Floyd, the provider of overdraft protection programs for credit unions, said yesterday it has acquired Vigilance Financial Systems, LLC, a n Austin, Texas, provider of fraud detection software. Under the deal, privately-held Floyd will acquire the rights to Vigilance Financial’s FraudSWEEP fraud detection and authentication software and rename it JMFA Fraud Manager. The system will evaluate every incoming check and Automated Clearing House transaction for indications of fraud, in order to identify counterfeit checks, forgeries, unauthorized drafts and unusual payment activity. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

SAN ANTONIO – Harland Clarke, the new check-printing giant created by the combination of John H. Harland Co. and Clarke American, said it is closing down its manufacturing plant in Dallas and laying off 110 employees there. The lay-offs will take place later this summer. Earlier this month, M&F Worldwide, the investment vehicle for corporate raider Ronald Perelman, acquired Harland for $1.7 billion and is in the process of combining it with its Clarke American unit.