DALLAS – Southwest Corporate FCU, which abandoned plans to combine with Southeast Corporate FCU in Florida, has agreed this time to merge with Northwest Corporate FCU, which serves 250 credit unions on the west coast.

WARREN, Mich. – The former president of Tandem CU pleaded guilty Thursday to three felonies related to trying to have sex with a five-year-old girl. David Rauch, 53, faces up to 20 years in prison when he is sentenced April 4. Rauch was caught Nov. 8 while he was still manager of the credit union by undercover police communicating online with someone he thought was a woman arranging to have sex with the women’s young daughter while the women watched. Authorities said there were no physical acts or contact.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – NCUA on Friday approved a request by a federal credit union to offer a monthly matching deposit for a special savings account for employees. In a new legal opinion issued Mountain Empire FCU, NCUA said such an account is permissible under its rules and regulations as long as the Marion, Va., credit union complies with all provisions of the Truth in Savings Act. The credit plans to offer a matching deposit to employees who invest up to $20 a month into an individual, special savings account. No withdrawals would be allowed until the employee leaves the credit union and no other funds can be commingled with the account. The credit union plans to deposit the funds at the end of the year and pay all applicable taxes.

EASTON, Pa. – The former president of Northampton-Carbon County FCU pleaded guilty to fraud and filing false income tax returns in the theft of $1.8 million from the now defunct credit union. Michael Symons, 66, faces up to 33 years in prison and $2 million in restitution when he is sentenced May 24. Betty Jean Barachie, the former branch manager for Nor-Car FCU, pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $1.5 million to finance her compulsive shopping habit. She told authorities she used the funds to buy hundreds of pairs of shoes, some 3,000 books, 58 coats, 16 chainsaws and a John Deere Tractor. Most of the items she bought sat piled in her house unused with the price tags still on them.

SAN DIMAS, Calif. Christian Community CU celebrated the opening of its new headquarters and branch. The 25,000 square-foot, two-story building includes a community room, training room and employee lounge. The $440 million credit union serves more than 28,000 members, as well as Christian churches, ministries and their members around the country.

KENSINGTON, Md. – Directors of Lafeyette FCU, faced with a recall initiative over members angry over the failed attempt to convert to savings bank, have added two new members to fill recent resignations. The new director, both popular in the community, are: Rodrigo Leiva, head of the Coalition of Latino Agencies in Adams-Morgan and Columbia Heights, where Lafayette recently opened a new branch; and Darryl Pounds, a former player for the Washington Redskins involved in local philanthropy. Leiva issued a press release at the opening of the new branch saying he supported the conversion to mutual savings bank because of the expansion into new areas it would entail. Angry members are petitioning to hold a special meeting where they hope to vote the recall of the board for its support of the ill-fated conversion.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – NCUA reported Friday it has granted permission to SecurityPlus FCU in Baltimore to serve the Charm City’s entire 650,000 population, as qualified as an underserved community. The $265 million is the third federal charter awarded the whole of Baltimore as an underserved field of membership. Several other major U.S. cities have been awarded by NCUA as underserved areas, including Houston, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Richmond, Tucson, St. Paul, and Miami.

DEER PARK, Texas – Shell FCU, the $260 million credit union chartered to serve oil services employees, celebrated its 70th anniversary with a new charter. NCUA granted the credit union a community charter to cover the 3.4 million people in Harris County (Houston), one of the largest federal charters ever approved. The credit union serves more than 200 select groups and underserved areas in Deer Park, Pasadena and La Porte.

ATLANTA – S1 Corp. reported a loss for its fourth quarter yesterday of $13.9 million, or 18 cents a share, based on operating losses of $13.3 million. Losses for the full year were $1.1 million, as $28.2 million in operating losses were offset by $27 million in gains from discontinued operations for the sale of the company’s FRS unit last year. That is strikingly similar to the company’s financials for 2005, when it reported a $1.1 million loss that included a $27 million gain from discontinued operations for the sale of its Edify unit.

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – Altura CU said it has promoted chief operating officer Gerry Agnes to be president, while current president and CEO Mark Hawkins will remain as CEO of all of the companies owned by the $750 million credit union, like a holding company. Hawkins will continue to oversee the credit union–headed by Agnes-- and its wholly owned CUSOs, Auto Expert, Patrion Insurance, Patrion Mortgage and Amerit Escrow. The changes creates an organizational structure not common in credit unions, pointed out Hawkins. Hawkins said the change is part of the credit union’s long-term strategic planning process, which identified the desire for a consistent organizational structure to assist with operating multiple CUSOs.

ELIZABETHTOWN, Ky. -- iPay Technologies said yesterday it has signed with credit union processor Bradford-Scott Data Corp. to market its bill payment services to credit unions. iPay provides online bill payment services to more than 1,100 financial institutions. Bradford-Scott distributes the Sharetec System for core processing to more than 300 credit unions in Indiana.

BELOIT, Wis. – First American CU announced yesterday its long-time president Tom Barnes has resigned to take a job with a local company. Barnes, who headed the credit union for 19 years and built it to $150 million in assets, will be succeeded by Tracy Blaske, currently vice president of operations, who has been with the credit union since 1994. Barnes, who worked in the credit union movement for more than 30 years, is going to work for Garrick Industries, also in Beloit.

McLEAN, Va. – Mortgage rates declined again this week to their lowest level since the beginning of the year. Freddie Mac reported yesterday the average rate on 30-year, fixed-rate loans declined to 6.18% this week, from 6.22% last week; while the average for the 15-year, fixed-rate mortgage dipped to 5.92%, from 5.97%. The decline pushed rates down to the lowest point since the 30-year mortgage was at the same 6.18% the week of Jan. 4. ARM rates also moved lower, with the average for the five-year ARM dropping to 5.93%, from 5.96% last week; and the average for the one-year ARM holding steady at 5.49%. “Mortgage rates drifted lower last week largely on the basis of new economic information suggesting a slower economy and lower inflation, said Frank Nothaft, vice chief economist for Freddie Mac. Real GDP growth for the last quarter was revised downward to a 2.2% annualized rate, compared to the 3.5% initially estimated, while the accompanying price measure showed that core inflation was tamer than first reported, at a revised 1.9% annualized rate.”

SAN ANTONIO – Red River FCU said it has contributed $25000 to a fundraising effort at Texas A&M University. The funds will go to the Texas A&M University-Texarkana’s Endow the Future Campaign for the new College of Engineering and Information Sciences.

POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. -- Hudson Valley FCU announced yesterday it will pay its members a special dividend totaling $2.15 million. The amount distributed to each member household was based on their level of participation with the credit union in 2006. The $2.1 billion credit union has almost 190,000 members.

ORONO, Me. – Maine Savings FCU said yesterday it has signed a marketing agreement that with the University of Maine to allow it to install an ATM at the school’s ice arena, and to post signs and hospitality events related to the university’s sports. Maine Savings FCU has nine branches and over $165 million in assets.

WATERLOO, Iowa – Veridian CU has set aside $3 million to provide loans for people digging out from this winter’s heavy snowstorms. Rates on loans up to $5,000 will be 8.5%, or lowered to 8% with automatic transfer or payroll deduction. Borrowers will be asked the specific purpose of the loan. Applications will be accepted until April 30, or when the $3 million runs out.

WASHINGTON – Credit unions weighed in again yesterday to try to rescue the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, calling on Congress to save the Clinton-era program from Bush-era budget cuts. During a congressional hearing on CDFI funding, Joy Cousminer, president of Bethex FCU, told her Congressman Jose Serrano, who chairs the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services, how his district has benefitted from services made possible through the CDFI Fund. Cousminer explained how Bethex, founded in 1970 by welfare mothers, has leveraged millions of dollars in grants and loans from CDFI, NCUA and the National Federation of CDCUs, to finance payday loans, low-cost mortgages, check cashing and international remittances in the nation’s poorest congressional district. The CDCU executive asked the newly formed Appropriations subcommittee to budget as much as $100 million for the CDFI Fund, almost four-times what was proposed by the Bush Administration, which sought before to eliminate funding for the program. Cousminer, whose credit union has received as much as $1 million in CDFI assistance, said in the early years assistance was used mainly for straight-forward purposes, like increasing loans and establishing reserves. But in recent years, CDCUs like hers have found increasing challenges financing compliance with the USA Patriot Act and Bank Secrecy Act, as well as the increased threat of fraud and identity theft. The CDFI Fund, the brainchild of National Federation of CDCU Director Cliff Rosenthal, was created in 1994 by the Clinton Administration and has provided as much as $100 million in grants and loans to almost 100 credit unions since then, making credit unions a key component of the program.

ROCKVILLE, Md. – Navy FCU celebrated the opening of its newest service center here, the first of a record 31 new branches planned for 2007. The Rockville branch has 15 employees and offers on-site investment and insurance services and mortgage counseling, and includes 24/7 ATM service and walk-up teller service. The new branch is the 118th for the world’s largest credit union, which manages $27 billion in assets.

BRIDGEWATER, N.J. – Financial Resources FCU has formed its own non-profit foundation, the credit union announced yesterday. The tax-exempt 501 © (3) will serve as a foundation for the $325 million credit union’s charitable events. In the first event, the foundation is sponsoring ‘An Evening with Robert Channing, the World’s Foremost Mindreader,’ for which the $250-a-head proceeds will be donated to the local chapters of the Court Appointed Special Advocates. Several other credit unions have formed non-profit foundations in recent years, including Pentagon FCU, GTE FCU and North Carolina State Employees CU.