IOWA CITY - Members of University of Iowa Community CU are scrambling to get the CU's board of directors to call a meeting for a re-vote on the proposed name change to Optiva that is slated to take place March 1.

HOUSTON - With the American savings rate at a negative 1% this year and margin spreads thinner than a runway model, CUs are trying to attract new money with a variety of products and promotions.

MySpace isn't just the new channel where credit unions can market to Gen Y (see related story). Credit Union Journal found that credit unions have become part of the fabric of the ubiquitous social-networking site in other ways.

DENVER - Bellco CU always took for granted that its borrowing members were the most profitable.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - NCUA Chairwoman JoAnn Johnson has hired Peter Barrett, senior counsel at the House Financial Services Committee, as her new senior policy advisor and chief of staff. Barrett most recently served as counsel on the Republican staff of the financial services panel and played roles in writing major bills, like Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act, Regulatory Relief, Deposit Insurance Reform and Internet Gambling Prohibition. "He's fair and knowledgeable and has a significant understanding about credit union issues," said John McKechnie, congressional liaison for NCUA, about Barrett.

WASHINGTON - The banking lobby has stepped into the decades-old fray between state-chartered credit unions and the Internal Revenue Service on the Unrelated Business Income Tax (UBIT), trying to muddy the waters, and, according to CUNA, harass credit unions.

LOMBARD, Ill. - Study after study shows credit unions enjoy greater loyalty among their members than banks do with their customers-but one industry expert suggests being better than banks isn't enough.

FRISCO, Texas - IntegraSys announced it has completed the first three platforms of the system-wide technology refresh of its Credit Union Business Environment (CUBE) core processing system. With in-house and service-bureau delivery options, CUBE leverages Microsoft technologies to provide credit unions with maximum flexibility through its open architecture, integration capabilities and unprecedented ease-of-use.

NEW YORK CITY - The $3.6-billion America First Credit Union is the newest partner in the National Federation of Community Development CU's Community Development Partner program.

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MILWAUKEE, Wis. - It's a "MySpace thing" for one credit union when it comes to growth, with strategy that includes financial education mixed with the sounds of the CEO's 1970s band.

ATLANTA - Credit bureau Equifax announced it has agreed to acquire TALX, the St. Louis-based provider of employment verification and related payroll services, for stock and cash valued at $1.4 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.

WINNIPEG, Manitoba - Cambrian Credit Union makes workflow and business process management (BPM) software look easy.

First Alliance Credit Union, Rochester, Minn., promoted Valerie Mathias to vice president of finance, Lisett Comai to marketing manager and Pamela Evans to branch manager/mortgage consultant.

ORLANDO, Fla. - Digital Check Corporation announced record results in 2006 for revenues and shipments of its TellerScan series of check scanners at the BAI TransPay conference. Company revenues for 2006 grew by more than 100% over the previous year. Another milestone for the TellerScan brand was surpassing 100,000 units shipped into distributed capture markets worldwide.

ALBANY, N.Y. - Despite recent snowfall measuring 112 inches recently, upstate New York and New England credit unions were open for business.

"American Idol" fever is sweeping the country again. It's amazing that thousands of people line up for days for a chance to meet Simon, Randy and Paula and sing for the judges. What makes it even more amazing is that most of the contestants on "American Idol" cannot sing. Not a note. They can't carry a tune in a Samsonite suitcase - they are that bad.

I would like to throw my two cents into the pot. "It's Time To Stop Questioning Motives Of Officials At DFCU Financial CU" (CUJ, Jan. 22) starts out good, but, then goes downhill for me. I know nothing of what is going on at DFCU other than what I read. I am amazed when someone says "I hesitate to re-enter." They really don't or they wouldn't. When you say "I'm troubled by the incessant desire to doubt the motives of DFCU officials," I find that I raise my eyebrows and wonder about YOUR motives. They come later... Then you tell me "your motives are pure." I might not [have] had any doubt before, but, now I do. Why would you tell me your motives are pure? That is like me telling you I have NEVER lied before. What I wonder about from the officials at DFCU is the way they seem to stall information from being sent out. If they have "pure" motives, I would think they would show what they did, why they did it, and give facts to support their reasons. I haven't read any of this. Wrong is still wrong unless you come to the good part... They (DFCU Management) have decided to show the world what it takes to be a GOOD guy-give a $17.5-million dividend to the members. And to really make us look good-we will give $10 million to the League's Career Transition Program and the League will tell the world how great we are. I find it hard to believe a motive is pure after receiving that kind of money. PR ($10 million here, $17.5 million there) goes a long way in making anybody look good. I now know the amount it cost to get "pure motives" from a person. If people at DFCU did wrong then they should be dealt with, if they didn't then let the whole thing die. Their "good works" don't cover much in my estimation, let alone "walk the talk."

In my last article, I described how to create a strong data foundation for your organization. As a brief review, I discussed the importance of clean data and setting up processes to ensure that the information that you capture about your members is standardized and consistent. In this article, I will describe how you can utilize clean and standardized data to improve your direct marketing efforts.