WASHINGTON — In an effort to reach young Capital Hill staffers, CUNA last week released a video featuring the updated "Little Guy" first introduced just before this year's Government Affairs Conference.

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. - The Massachusetts CU League was expected last week to sign on to a lawsuit filed by the bankers asking that TJX pay expenses for the hundreds of credit unions and banks harmed by last year's data breach at the nation's largest discount store chain.

Johnson Visits Local High School

NCUA: Health Savings Covered By The NCUSIF

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.

When choosing a collateral recovery agency, lenders should know and understand the types of insurance coverages specific to this industry.

MyWebTimes.com, Illinois, ran a story about the Star Ratings issued recently by Coral Gables, Fla., BauerFinancial, which are based on bank and CU results reported in the fourth quarter of 2006. Analyzing a financial's call reports, Bauer Financial looks at capital, profitability, delinquent loans, historical data and enforcement actions to rank CUs and banks with one-to-five stars. Several local banks and CUs were highlighted, including Bakelite Credit Union and Streator Community Credit Union.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - NCUA reported last week it approved 29 mergers in March, including an unusual number of huge credit unions acquiring much smaller ones, five involving billion-dollar credit unions. That included: Eastern Financial Florida FCU ($2.3 billion) acquiring Omni Community FCU ($50 million); Landmark CU ($1 billion) acquiring Belle City CU ($4 million); Kinecta FCU ($3.5 billion) acquiring Santa Monica School Employees CU ($9 million) Mountain America FCU ($2.1 billion) acquiring S.P. Sparks Employees FCU ($24 million) and GTE FCU acquiring Louisiana Association of Educators FCU ($1.4 million).

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

Throughout 2007, the Credit Union Journal, in conjunction with ENCORE Card Services, are profiling the credit unions of each U.S. state and D.C. Rather than appear in alphabetical order, the states are being featured in the order they became states. For info: visit www.encore-ecs.coop.

NEW YORK - CashEdge Inc. has been awarded a patent for 'Multiple Trust Modes for Handling Data,' technology that allows credit union and bank customers to the degree of how their user information is stored.

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.

CENTRAL FALLS, R.I. - Credit Union Central Falls, the state's biggest credit union, has changed its name to Navigant CU.

AUSTIN, Texas — It turns out ignorance really can be bliss for credit unions.

HAMILTON, ONTARIO - Police here smashed open a door to gain entry to a branch of First Ontario Credit Union after 70 employees who are on strike locked themselves inside and padlocked the door. The employees had announced they would not leave until the credit union returned to the bargaining table.

RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif. - Credit unions held on to an 18% share of the auto lending marketplace during 2006, with CU members paying lowest average monthly payments on new vehicles, according to a report from Credit Union Direct Corp. (CUDL).

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.

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.

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.

SAN DIEGO - Dick Ensweiler, president of the Texas league, told a group of credit unions gathered here that he supports the position taken by NCUA in opposing the attempt by Wings Financial FCU to go straight to members of Continental FCU with a merger bid that included a $200 payment from CFCU's capital.