AUSTIN, Texas - Some have called it the Holy Grail of indirect lending: getting members who joined at the auto dealer through an indirect loan to become full-fledged members who don't leave when the car payments are finished.

MADISON, Wis. - Two of CUNA's Councils have released white papers. The CUNA Operations, Sales and Service (OpSS) Council has released the "Balancing Sales and Operations" white paper that looks at how to successfully implement the shift to a sales culture, while maintaining operations as a priority.

ELGIN, Ill. - Relying on the much-vaunted loyalty of credit union members, credit unions frequently take a softer approach to collections, but they may need to rethink that approach when it comes to members who signed up via an indirect lending program.

PLANO, Texas - Southwest Corporate Federal Credit Union set a new record at the end of March when assets exceeded $13 billion.

BOCA RATON, Fla. - This is not your father's credit card.

AUSTIN, Texas - Credit unions have been loathe to jump on the exotic mortgage bandwagon, but they run the risk of driving members into the bankers' arms if they don't have a strategy in place for helping members interested in these types of loans.

HIGHTSTOWN, N.J. - The New Jersey Credit Union League is again looking for a new CEO following the dismissal of Robert S. Walls, Sr. The league declined to comment on the departure beyond issuing a statement that Walls is "no longer in the employ" of the league. Christopher Zahne, NJCUL's director of finance, has been named acting CEO. Walls left the Delaware CU League, where he had been CEO, in mid-2005 to fill a vacancy created by the termination of Thomas Shaughnessy, who would later plead guilty to embezzling nearly $300,000 from the New Jersey league.

ST. LOUIS, Mo. - Gov. Matt Blunt is expected to sign into law a bill that credit unions hope will bring an end to the field of membership lawsuits in Missouri.

WATERTOWN, N.Y. - In a market that is forever rewarding shoppers for their behavior, why not a rewards program for checking accounts?

BOSTON - In an environment where consumer expectations are steadily increasing, Chris Braccia gave attendees of the Credit Union Journal's Business Development & SEG conference a "reality check" on using Member Relationship Management software.

APPLE VALLEY, Minn. - Just two days after NCUA disqualified its $200-a-share offer to members of Continental FCU, Wings Financial FCU withdrew its effort to acquire the much smaller institution in what would have been credit unions' first hostile takeover.

Auto Management Suite Released

SAN DIEGO - Dick Ensweiler poses this question to credit unions: "If I were to mystery shop your credit union and ask the front-line staff why I should join a credit union, what kind of answer would I get?"

HARTFORD, Conn. - Credit union representatives met here earlier this month with state regulators to get some guidance on the Unrelated Business Income Tax. More than a dozen of the state-chartered credit unions received guidance recently from the Internal Revenue Services which was discussed among the group (federal charters are not subject to UBIT).

AUSTIN, Texas - Credit unions have been loathe to jump on the exotic mortgage bandwagon, but they run the risk of driving members into the bankers' arms if they don't have a strategy in place for helping members interested in these types of loans.

WASHINGTON - CUNA reported last week it made contributions to 58 different House members last month, nine of whom would subsequently sign on as co-sponsor of CURIA, the CU Regulatory Improvements Act.

MANCHESTER, N.H. - They were in town to learn strategies for future growth, but that had to wait. First had to come a very special evening of looking back.

BOCA RATON, Fla. - This is not your father's credit card.

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. - Dynamic Card Solutions has been granted a U.S. patent for its instant card issuing service, known as CardWizard.

Auto Management Suite Released