ATLANTA – Representatives of Clarke American have been meeting with employees at John H. Harland Co. in preparation of the combination of the two leading check printers, even as they await clearance from antitrust regulators. Employees of the two companies have been meeting in a ‘clean room’ at Harland headquarters where they are discussing topics like IT systems, sales processes and benefits, Harland reported in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Harland noted the two companies will continue to compete until the $1.7 billion merger closes, but they have set up a ‘clean room’ where non-operations people from Clarke American are talking with Harland employees. Harland is being acquired by Clarke American’s parent, M&F Worldwide, the vehicle for financier Ron Perelman, who plans to combine the number two and three check printers to create the nation’s largest producer of checks. The deal must is being reviewed by federal regulators for possible antitrust issues.

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Meriwest CU said has signed with Digital Dialogue to ensure its 74,000 members with around-the-clock access to their funds. The $1.1 billion credit union is taking advantage of Digital Dialogue’s Custom Call Center Outlet through the Financial Service Centers Cooperative Shared Branching Network. Digital Dialogue is based in Auburn Hills, Mich.

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – A local man was charged last week with trying to skim as much as $1500 off of Eastman CU ATMs using phony deposits. Christopher Jones, 18, made phony deposits at the cash machines, then withdrew the funds on the phony deposits, police said. Johnson was charged with three counts of theft over $500.

SANTA ROAS, Calif. – Redwood CU claims it is saving more than $100,000 a year in water and energy costs because of a remodeling of its headquarters here. As part of the remodeling the credit union installed waterless urinals and dual flush toilets, which require users to push one of two buttons depending on what type of waste they want to flush. The new toilets are part of a water conservation campaign that saved the $1.3 billion credit an estimated $60,000 last year. The building was also renovated to make the most of natural lighting, while recycled material, like linoleum, carpeting and hardwood floors are used through the building. In addition, a large section of grass was removed from in front of the building and replaced with vegetation that uses less water, in order to reduce water usage.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – The NCUA Board voted in closed meeting Friday to re-appoint Jane Walters as director of the agency’s Region Two, completing the comeback for the once-chastened NCUA executive. Walters served as director of the Mid-Atlantic Region in the mid-1990's before she was appointed to head the agency’s western Region Six. While there she was one of six top executives–including three regional directors–who were implicated in a 2000 hiring scandal in which they skirted federal hiring standards to favor female and minority job applicants. The six, who were suspended; at least one was forced into retirement, were believed to have been scapegoats for a scheme that was originated at the highest levels of NCUA. Walters has slowly made her way back to the top of the NCUA hierarchy, first being appointed as southwest Region Five director, than as deputy executive director last year. Walters, who began her career at NCUA in 1981 as an examiner will succeed Ed Dupcak, who retired in December, after 33 years at NCUA.

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – Kern Schools FCU’s year-old headquarters is Kern County’s first building to become officially ‘green’. The environmentally-friendly building was certified by the U.S. Green Building Council, as ‘green’ for a number of aids that help minimize environmental impact, reduce energy consumption and ensure a safe environment for employees. Among them are: limited artificial lighting; large windows for natural light; showers and bike racks to encourage employees to bike to work; a super-efficient duct system that performs 1% leakage; and landscaping and irrigation that use 50% less water. Managers of the twin three-story buildings, opened in December 2005, say it has achieved a 50% reduction in energy consumption in the first year. Cost for the 70,000 square-foot headquarters project was $27 million.

WASHINGTON – As many as 4,000 credit union executives and volunteers are expected to brave a blizzard raging through the nation’s Capital to wage their first lobbying assault of the 110th Congress for the CU Regulatory Improvements Act–known better as CURIA. Lawmakers are tinkering with a few numbers in hopes of introducing the bill early this week, in order to take advantage of the annual gathering for CUNA’s Government Affairs Conference. The bankers have beaten the credit union lobby to Capitol Hill in advance of CURIA, buying ads in last week’s Roll Call newspaper, widely read on the Hill, calling for the defeat of bill. The cornerstone of the bill will be enactment of a risk-based capital system for credit unions, with four other main provisions targeted: allowing all federally chartered credit unions to add underserved communities; enabling credit unions to retain their select groups after converting to community charters; boosting minimum voting requirements for conversion to mutual savings bank; and lifting the cap on member business lending.

WASHINGTON – CUNA financials, which have been boosted by asset sales and earnings of its CSS subsidiary in recent years, reported strong financial results for 2006. The trade group said it doubled its net income to $2.9 million, with $1.5 million a net operating margin. That’s up from about $1.5 million in 2005, about half of which was from earnings at CSS. “We had a great year in 2006, and we’re looking forward to a great year in 2007,” said Suncoast School FCU President Tom Dorety, treasurer of the CUNA Board, during yesterday annual general meeting. For the fiscal year, CUNA reported a 4.5% increase in revenues, to $53.4 million, and a 4.6% increase in expenses, to $51.9 million. Member equity, or reserves, rose to $15.9 million at year-end 2006, up $3 million over the past three years.

BURLINGTON, Vt. – Just as members are organizing to recall a new name for University of Iowa Community CU, members at another credit union are raising their voices to opposition of a new moniker for the credit union. Members at Vermont State Employees CU, some of them state employees, are raising doubts about a pending referendum to change the name of the $400 million credit union to Veristate, as management seeks to de-emphasize employment with the state as a requirement for membership. “The board has decided that state employees are the past, not the future, and they need to reach out to new customers. Besides, state employees save too much and don't borrow enough,” wrote one disgruntled member in the local newspaper this weekend. Another member called on others to contact the board and register their opposition to the new name. The criticism comes as he credit union’s 40,000 members are voting by mail ballot, expected to culminate in a special meeting March 28, whether to become Veristate CU. And it comes as members of University of Iowa Community CU are scheduled to meet in a special meeting Wednesday to vote a second time whether to change the name of the $525 million credit union to Optiva CU. Opponents of the Optiva name petitioned the credit union to re-vote the close ballot approving the name change and the board has agreed to do so. Controversies over name changes are rare among credit unions, with as many as 350 to 400 credit unions adopting a new name every year. Federally chartered credit unions may change their names without member consent, but state charters in most states require member approval.

ATLANTA – A former CheckFree executive and his wife are headed to jail and will a fine for their scheme to defraud the electronic bill payments service provider out of almost $400,000. Lawrence Dale Roberts, 43, of Marietta, Ga., was sentenced to three years in prison, and his wife, Christina Roberts, 36, was sentenced to a year behind bars and ordered to pay CheckFree $386,000 in restitution. Authorities said Dale Roberts was a CheckFree executive who contracted with a company secretly owned by his wife, which charged CheckFree inflated prices, 100% overly regular hourly rates. The couple hid their ownership in the contractor, posing a neighbor as the owner and providing him with a cell phone owned by Dale Roberts. Christina Roberts forged the neighbor’s signature on several documents, including checks.

BOSTON – The Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston reported yesterday that an interest in net interest income helped push its net income 44.8% higher for the year, to $195.8 million. The increase in net interest income was driven primarily by higher interest rates, and an increase in average advances balances. As a result, the Boston Bank announced a hile in its first quarter dividend to 6.76%, up from 5.25% for the first quarter last year, and 5.75% for the fourth quarter last year. The dividend will be paid to the Bank’s 425 members, including 125 credit unions, on March 2.

LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue Employees FCU said yesterday it has deployed the identity theft protection solution IDSERVER, provided by IDMatrixx of San Francisco, in all of its branches. IDSERVER is a multi-factor authentication system that consists of client server software and a multi-factor authentication scanner, which includes smartcard, magstripe, PIN and multiple biometric capabilities. The device plugs into a Pct at the branch, while the server software is installed at the headquarters. Each member enrolls and their customer information is securely stored on the back end server. For biometric enrollment the member simply provides their fingerprint.

DENVER – The restructuring at First Data Corp. will continue, with the funds processor announcing yesterday its exit form the checks and money order business. The company, which processes official checks and money orders, said the it will gradually terminate its obligations in the business over the next two years, freeing up as much as $300 million in cash for other purposes. The announcement came after First Data said it had agreed to acquire two companies, Datawire Communication Networks Inc., and Atlanta company whose VXN network moves transactions from point-of-sale terminals over the Internet; and Intelligent Results, a Bellevue, Wash.-based company whose software helps companies analyze data. The latest deals come a few months after First Data spun off its Western Union money transfer business, the world’s largest.

ATLANTA – The Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta became the latest FHLB to report rising earnings yesterday, saying its net income rose 20% last year to $414 million, compared to 2005. The increase in net income was mostly due to increases in interest rates and the spread between interest rates and liabilities. As a result, the Atlanta Bank, the biggest FHLB by numbers of members, expects to pay a first quarter dividend of between 5.60% and 5.90%. The Atlanta FHLB has more than 1,200 members in the southeast including 135 credit union.

CHANTILLY, Va. – Online Resources Corp. reported yesterday that last year’s acquisition of Princeton eCom pushed the company into the red for both its fourth quarter and fiscal year. The company reported a net loss of $2.7 million, or 11 cents a share for the fourth quarter, compared to a $16.5 million, or 60 cents a share profit for the fourth quarter in 2005. Fourth quarter revenues, fueled by the Princeton eCom acquisition, rose 86% to $29.4 million, compared to the fourth quarter in 2005. But the $190 million deal for Princeton eCom loaded down Online Resources with debt, costing $3 million in debt service for the fourth quarter, and almost $6 million for the year. Online Resources announced Wednesday it had refinanced $85 million of the senior secured debt related to the deal at a lower rate, which will save it on debt service costs. For the full year, Online Resources reported a 52% rise in revenues, to $91.7 million, because of the Princeton eCom deal, and a loss of $4 million, or 16 cents a share.

MONTPELIER, Vt. – Another credit union will give its members the rare opportunity of choosing a new name. Officials at Vermont State Employees CU said the credit union wants to change its name to Veristate CU in order to de-emphasize the ties to state government and emphasize that anyone in seven surrounding counties is eligible to join. While most credit unions change their names by a vote of the Board, at least one other credit union, University of Iowa Community CU, is embroiled in a controversy involving its narrow members vote to change the name to Optiva CU. Members will vote a second time Feb. 28 on the controversial name-change. An average of 350 credit union change their names every year, most of them by vote of the board. Vermont State Employees CU said a name change must be approved by a two-thirds vote among its 42,000 members, who will be voting by mail ballot and at a special meeting on March 26.

AMERICAN FORK, Utah – In a scheme that is becoming increasingly popular, a member of Mountain America CU was charged with stealing almost $3,000 from its ATMs by depositing fake deposits. The unidentified member used blank deposit slips to withdraw cash she didn’t have in her account, according to local police. The scheme is growing in popularity among ATM crooks because of the new image-enabled deposit-taking ATMs. Other area financial institutions have apparently been victims of the same swindler, who told police she’s done it more than 100 times.

McLEAN, Va. – The benchmark 30-year mortgage rate declined again this week, to below where it was a year ago, according to Freddie Mac. The average for the 30-year, fixed-rate loan slipped to 6.22% this week, from 6.30% last week’ while the average for the 15-year, fixed-rate mortgage fell to 5.97%, from 6.03%. ARM rates also ripped downward, with the average for the one-year ARM slipping to 5.49%, from 5.52% last week; and the average for the five-year ARM dropping to 5.96%, from 6.01%. Mortgage rates eased a little more this week, as market participants were concerned over how much drag the slowing housing market may have on economic growth, said Frank Nothaft, chief economist for Freddie Mac. For instance, last week's release of housing starts for January showed the weakest reading since August 1997, due to the abundance of homes already on the market to purchase.”

FORT WORTH, Texas – American Airlines CU announced yesterday it has expanded it relationship with CO-OP Financial Services and will now have the credit union-owned company process its five-million debit card transactions, both PIN- and signature-based.

ONTARIO, Calif. – CO-OP Financial Services unveiled a new service yesterday that will enable credit unions to manage their ATM screens and use them to cross-sell products and services that compliments their marketing strategies. The system gives credit unions the flexibility to control member impressions through customized Welcome, Wait and Thank You ATM screens. Mountain America FCU in Utah has been using the new service, called ATMContent Manager, since January on its 80 ATMs and has already run two full marketing campaigns on the screens. ATMContent manager was developed through a partnership with TEKchand LLC, a Chicago-based ATM software and system provider.