RICHMOND, Va. - Members at as many as a dozen Virginia credit unions stand to gain in inactive account fees and back-interest if an NCUA ruling on federal preemption is allowed to stand.

GUIZHOU PROVINCE, China - A 14-member group representing the World Council and its board members will travel to China during June as part of a study group. The group will be led by WOCCU's Chief Operating Officer, Brian Branch, and Ralph Swoboda, its consultant on China. During the trip, credit union CEOs from the United States and Canada will study the rural credit cooperative (RCC) system and provide initial training on model credit union building.

In its latest barrage, the Wisconsin Bankers Association (WBA) is asking taxpayers to take a hard look at the "burden" credit unions' tax-exempt status puts on our state.

JUNE

We recently held an extended roundtable session and invited a dozen credit union executives to discuss the state of the industry. We sent out a pre-reading package, and then met for two days of in-depth debate and discussion.

SAN ANTONIO - The $3.9-billion Security Service Federal Credit Union (SSFCU) has selected 10 San Antonio high school students to participate in its first annual Youth Advisory Council. The students will assist the credit union in the development of new youth products and services, helping co-create a new generation of financial products and services for children, youth and young adults, SSFCU said.

The Credit Union Journal is announcing its Call for Entries for its Best

HARRISBURG, Penn. - The Pennsylvania Credit Union Association has unveiled a new website at www.pcua.coop.

PASADENA, Calif. - Wescom Credit Union will acquire CU West Mortgage and merge it with CUSO Mortgage, which Wescom bought last year.

PORTLAND, Ore. - Credit union members are borrowing more on their CU-issued credit cards. According to analysis by AssetExchange of the 2,050 CU card portfolios of $1 million or more, card balances among members grew significantly over the past year, with the average balance per member up 10% since March 2006 to nearly $2,200 by March of 2007.

LINCOLN, Neb. - While credit unions are offering debit card reward programs as a means to both counter competitors and provide value to members, not every issuer has such altruistic intentions.

TORONTO, Ontario - A name has been chosen for the merged institution created by the partnership of Credit Union Central of Ontario and Vancouver-based Credit Union Central of British Columbia-Central 1 Credit Union.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Alabama's credit unions have launched the latest in a $400,000 media campaign aimed at both creating a more positive political climate in the state for credit unions and at driving greater membership growth.

WASHINGTON - Perhaps one of the greatest concerns about the future of credit unions is one that isn't making headlines: the difficulty of chartering a brand new credit union.

PHOENIX - With the cost of the average wedding approaching $30,000, a subsidiary of Desert Schools FCU here has created an insurance product to protect against the loss of deposits and other unforeseen events that can tarnish the big day.

Comment

NEW YORK - Community development credit unions (CDCUs) significantly outpaced all other credit unions in membership growth during 2006 and showed strong performance in other categories, although the growth rate for assets has slowed.

JOHNSTOWN, Penn. - Two employees of Franklin-Johnstown FCU here have won local primaries and will be on the ballot this November for two positions in local government. Loan Officer Joanne Wright will be on the Republican ballot for Tax Collector in Paint Township, Somerset County.

BOCA RATON, Fla. - Discover Network has introduced four card products that seek to reward loyal members, expand its own brand in the credit card market and offer credit unions a turnkey program with minimal startup hassles.

ATLANTA - Approximately $1.3 trillion in cash transactions are made every year for purchases of less than $5.