BIDDEFORD, Me. – People’s Choice CU withdrew an ad from the local newspaper after the Anti-Defamation League complained that it evoked an anti-Semitic characterization. The ad, a wanted poster for what the credit union calls ‘The Fee Bandit,’ shows a figure with the distinct characteristics of an Orthodex Jewish man, dressed all in black, with long black hair and a black hat. Credit union officials apologized and agreed to pull the ad, which they said was meant to portray an evil banker from the wild west

ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- NCUA said yesterday it plans to pay federally insured credit unions their first dividend on the National CU Share Insurance Fund in four years, a payment of as much as $110 million. The payout will be possible because the credit union deposit insurance fund ended 2006 with excess reserves, an equity ratio of 1.31 (dollars reserved per $100 of insured deposits), higher than the federally mandated 1.25, according to Dennis Winans, chief financial officer for NCUA. As a result, he will propose to the NCUA Board at next month's meeting a dividend of between $90 million and $110 million, he said. That amount to a 2% return on each federally insured credit union's 1% NCUSIF deposit. Once the Board approves the dividend--as it is expected to do--the checks will be in the mail within 10 days, said Winans.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- The NCUA Board, which has been steadily expanding parameters for field of membership to include multiple counties encompassing millions of people sprawled across state lines, drew the line yesterday on community charters when it rejected a bid for a statewide charter. Though the request by Del-One FCU (formerly Delaware FCU) would only include three counties and 800,000 people in the Diamond State, NCUA ruled a statewide charter violates provisions of the FCU Act and its FOM and Chartering Manual which bars statewide charters. At least one state, Washington, has crossed the community chartering threshold and now allows its credit unions to serve the entire state. But as part of HR 1151, the 1998 CU Membership Access Act, Congress rewrote FOM standards to add the key word local to community chartering standards for federal credit unions, Hattie Ulan, special counsel to NCUA's general counsel, told the NCUA Board during yesterday's monthly meeting. And the agency does not believe an entire state comes under the definition of local community. No state meets the statutory requirement of being a local community, said Ulan.

ATLANTA – Credit bureau Equifax announced last night 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. TALX provides a wide spectrum of products and services including employment and income verification, pay reporting, hiring, and employment tax management services. The Work Number service, created by TALX in 1995, is a leader in workplace verification and has over 142 million employment records. The deal fits into Equifax’s long term strategy of diversifying and acquiring new data sources. Under the terms of the deal, Equifax will acquire each share of TALX at $35.50 in cash or stock or a combination of each, and assume $191 million of TALX debt.

SAN ANTONIO – Security Services FCU announced yesterday it has signed with CSidentity Corp. to provide its online anti-fraud Protector solution.

SAN DIEGO – Mitek Systems, the provider of image analytics and pattern recognition software, reported yesterday that losses increased for its fiscal first quarter to $294,000, or two cents a share. The company, which received a new patent this week on digital signature recognition for check fraud detection, also said revenues declined for the quarter by 5% to $1.4 million, compared to the first quarter last year. Costs and expenses for the first quarter included $218,000 in legal and accounting fees related to last year’s merger with Parascript, the Boulder, Colo., provider or image analytics software.

MINNEAPOLIS – Fair Isaac, the maker of the ubiquitous FICO credit score, announced yesterday that Mark Greene, head of sales and distribution for financial services at IBM, was hired as its new CEO. Greene, 52, is a 12-year veteran at IBM. He will succeed Charles Osborne, interim CEO, who will return to his job as chief financial officer at Fair Isaac. Osborne has been serving as CEO since November when Thomas Grudnowski, CEO since 1999, resigned amidst slumping financials.

WASHINGTON – Democratic leaders in the House and Senate called for an investigation into the sale of 400,000 shares of student loan giant Sallie Mae by its chairman Albert Lord just days before proposed cuts in federal subsidies pushed the share price down by 9%. Lord sold the shares on Feb. 1 and Feb. 2, for an average of $45.75 each, just four and three days before the President’s budget detailing the proposed cuts was made public, shaving almost $4 off the company’s share price. The difference in the share price saved Lord about $1.5 million on the shares. Rep. Barney Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, and Rep. George Miller, head of the Education Committee, asked both Sallie Mae and the White House for information about any contacts between the two parties preceding the Feb. 5 release of the President’s budget, which proposed $9 billion of cuts in educational loan subsidies. Sen. Ted Kennedy, chairman of the Senate Education Committee, called on the SEC to investigate the sales for possible insider trading. News of the proposal caused a major sell-off in shares of Sallie Mae, the nation’s largest student lender, with the stock price declining all the way to $42 as a result. A Salle Mae spokesman called the timing of Lord’s trade “utterly coincidental” and said that Lord had notified the company of plans to sell the 400,000 shares two weeks before the sales.

OGDEN, Utah – Members and employees of American First FCU donated almost $15,000 for its annual ‘Warm the Soles’ program for children in need. The funds were used to buy shoes for hundreds of needy souls throughout the state. Many employees and members also helped wrap the shoes and distribute them to children.

WASHINGTON – America’s Community Bankers, the trade group for savings and loans, said yesterday it has organized a joint venture to aggregate mortgage loans among its members for sale on the secondary market. ACB Mortgage LLC, will be co-owned by participating ACB members who seek the scale of large mortgage pools for better deals on the secondary market. So far, 32 thrifts have invested in the new venture.

PHOENIX – Desert Schools FCU will celebrate next week’s opening of its newest branch–the credit union giant’s 57th–with live music, giveaways and free pizza. The branch is located in the new Wal-Mart, in east Mesa. Desert Schools is Arizona’s biggest credit union, with $2.8 billion in assets and 335,000 members.

SAN ANTONIO – Security Service FCU said yesterday it has signed with credit union-owned Prime Alliance Solutions to implement its online mortgage loan application. The $3.9 billion credit union will use Prime Alliance’s Retail Lending Center and Loan Fulfilment Center to process mortgage loans. Prime Alliance is a Tukwila, Wash., CUSO that was started by Boeing Employees CU and now provides some kind of mortgage services to 1,500 credit unions, loan officers, real estate agents and builders.

TAMPA, Fla. – Suncoast Schools FCU, the state’s biggest credit union, launched a new program to help local teachers and school employees buy their own homes. The credit union’s Home Solution will provide up to 100% mortgage financing; a reduced rate (by 0.25%) for automatic payment; discounted closing costs and ease of qualifying for educators and support staff in the surrounding Hillsborough County School District. School employees can choose from a variety of mortgages, including a 30-year, fixed-rate loan or the credit union’s discounted ARM HLPR loan for first time homebuyers. The $5 billion credit union is committing $100 million in loans to the Home Solution program.

PORTLAND, Ore. – OnPoint Community CU put the wraps on a new marketing campaign; one that can be seen day or night enveloping on the city’s light rail commuter trains. The state’s largest credit union has wrapped two commuter trains in a material called GlowSkin that illuminates parts of the credit union’s animated messages: ‘Smart money starts with one good decision,’ and ‘Simply smarter banking at onpointcu.com.’ The illuminating marketing campaign was designed by Lamar Transit Advertising, which operates in 64 transit markets, and Eden Prairie, Minn.-based Safe Lites, LLC, the maker of GlowSkin Active Illumination Technology. The wraps are expected to run for as long as 12 months. OnPoint Community is a $2.2 billion credit union with more than 180,000 members.

PORTLAND, Ore. – Shares in online banking services provider Corillian Corp., which had sunk into penny stock territory more than a year ago, surged 45% yesterday to $5, after the company announced a deal to be acquired by CheckFree Corp. for $5.15 a share. Corillian, rumored to be a target after recent takeovers of back-office vendors Open Solutions, Digital Insight and John H. Harland Co., was one of the most active stocks on the Nasdaq, with 25.5 million shares changing hands, more than 10 times the normal trading volume. Corillian shares bottomed out last August at $2.52 each, but have gained since then on prospects of the company’s integration of InteliData Technologies, which it acquired a year ago. Still, the company reported a loss of $1.1 million, or two cents a share, even while the InteliData deal boosted revenues by 25%. Under the deal with CheckFree, valued at $245 million, Corillian will pay a $5.5 million break-up fee to CheckFree if the transaction is not completed. The deal is subject to antitrust clearance under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act.

ATLANTA – Electronic payments giant CheckFree Corp. announced this morning it has agreed to acquire Corillian Corp., the provider of Internet services for credit unions and banks, for $5.15 a share, or $245 million. The deal comes closely on the heels of takeovers of Open Solutions, Digital Insight and John H. Harland Co., all major vendors for credit unions. Corillian, itself, recently completed the acquisition of InteliData Technologies, another provider of online services for credit unions and banks. The latest deal will combine Corillian’s Voyager suite of online services with CheckFree’s electronic billing and payment services. Corillian provides electronic services to more than 30 of the top 100 U.S. banks and 21 of the top 100 U.S. credit unions.

ATLANTA – Electronic payments giant CheckFree Corp. announced this morning it has agreed to acquire Corillian Corp., the provider of Internet services for credit unions and banks, for $5.15 a share, or $245 million. The deal comes closely on the heels of takeovers of Open Solutions, Digital Insight and John H. Harland Co., all major vendors for credit unions. Corillian, itself, recently completed the acquisition of InteliData Technologies, another provider of online services for credit unions and banks. The latest deal will combine Corillian’s Voyager suite of online services with CheckFree’s electronic billing and payment services. Corillian provides electronic services to more than 30 of the top 100 U.S. banks and 21 of the top 100 U.S. credit unions.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – A former ATM technician at Central Virginia FCU who was convicted of looting the credit union’s ATMs, was banned from the credit union industry by NCUA yesterday. James Allenson, of Lynchburg, Va., was found guilty of grand larceny for stealing from the credit union’s ATM last year. Also banned were; Larry Shoenbeck, former CEO of First Century FCU, for embezzling $14,250 from the Sioux Falls, S.D., credit union; Robert Williams, former manager of Philadelphia Postal Workers CU; and Donna Delauder, former financial card services rep at MacDill FCU.

SAN ANTONIO – Time Warner Cable Business Solutions said yesterday it has expanded its presence in the local financial services industry with telecommunications contracts with three large credit unions, Randolph Brooks FCU, United SA FCU and San Antonio City Employees FCU. The credit unions will use Time Warner Cable’s fiber optic network to access business data and Internet services. Time Warner Cable offers data, video and security services to small and medium-sized businesses and government agencies.

PHILADELPHIA – Police and Fire FCU, the state’s second largest credit union, announced yesterday its joined CO-OP Financial Services. Members of the $2.4 billion credit union will now access to 520 surcharge-free ATMs in Pennsylvania, including 100 at 7-11s. In addition, the 150,000-member credit unions brings its own 22 ATMs into the CO-OP network.