JACKSON, Miss. – HOPE Community CU said yesterday it awarded a $7,100 grant to Mississippi Council on Economic Education to train teachers for its Financial Fitness for Life program. The Council will train 30 economics teachers with research-based lessons on financial literacy and provide financial incentives for students who achieve a high level of financial competency. Up to 50 students will earn $100 for scoring the highest on student assessments. Pilot testing for the program in Jackson, Poplarville, Rankin and Hinds counties schools last year showed a vast improvement in students financial literacy.

ATLANTA – S1 Corp. said yesterday its Postilion unit is now offering fully integrated voice banking for credit unions and banks. The system includes 24 x 7 availability; in-depth tracking of customer use and administrative changes; access to a secure portal as a single source for monitoring and administration; self-guided enrollment; the ability to maintain rates on products and update branch and location information; and branded marketing messages.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Funds processor eFunds Corp. filed suit against MasterCard Inc alleging the termination of their three-year-old joint processing pact violated provisions of the contract. Under the agreement eFunds to providing debit processing for financial institutions using MasterCards, but MasterCard exercised an escape clause and terminated the contract in December. eFunds has asked a federal court to enforce the agreement or order MasterCard to pay the company monetary damages.

SAN DIEGO – Mitek Systems said yesterday it was awarded a second patent for online signature authentication from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. This second invention is for detecting check fraud using signature validation and builds on the company’s prior patent for check fraud. The new system will enable signature verification at various points of check presentment, like the teller station or the retail store register. Mitek’s signature verification technology is embedded in the check-fraud system offered by John H. Harland Co., called Validify.

WAUWATOSA, Wis. – Wauwatosa CU is offering HELP–for Harley Employees Layoff Program–to assist members who are workers at the local Harley-Davidson motorcycle plant losing their jobs. The HELP includes a $10,000 unsecured loan at discounted rates, along with no monthly payments for six months; a three-Month Skip-a-Pay loan and credit card program; and a Motorcycle Refinance Loan that offers no payment due for 135 days, discounted rates, and amounts up to 150% of the cycle’s value. The credit union was founded in 1937 by Harley-Davidson employees, and three of its board members are current or retired Harley-Davidson employees.

SAN ANTONIO – Security Services FCU announced yesterday it has signed with CSidentity Corp. to provide its online anti-fraud Protector solution. The identity theft service includes a security bundle of seven layers, providing a broad network of identity detection and protection. The seven layers are: credit monitoring; debt monitoring; public records monitoring; criminal records monitoring; Internet monitoring; restoration services and identity theft insurance of up to $25,000 to the covered member for expenses and lost wages related to resolution. CSidenity Corp. is based in Austin, Texas.

WARNER ROBINS, Ga. -- Soldiers fighting in Iraq will receive a special Valentines Day greeting today from the area’s children, thanks to Robins FCU. Employees at the $930 million credit union collected more than 2,750 Valentines from children in local schools and churches and sent them to soldiers in Iraq and those recuperating from injuries at Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington. Members assisted with the Heart-felt greetings, letters of encouragement, thank you, and thinking of you cards. Robins FCU was chartered in 1954 as a military credit union to serve personnel at Robins Air Force Base, and now serves residents of 16 surrounding counties.

RICHMOND, Va. – Venerable cash carrier and security firm Brink’s Co. announced yesterday it had agreed to support a representative of Pirate Capital LLC to its board to settle an ongoing proxy contest with its largest shareholder. Pirate, whose Jolly Roger Fund LLP has accumulated an 8.5% stake in Brink’s, has been waging a proxy contest for two seats on the company’s board, where it hopes to agitate for the sale of the company. But the raiders’ momentum was halted last week when Brink’s announced a tripling in fourth quarter and annual earnings, giving pause to the notion that Pirate could raise the financial prospects of the company. Under a settlement with Pirate, Brink’s agreed to appoint Thomas Hudson, president and founder of the Hedge Fund, to its board later this month, then to endorse his election to a full three-year term in May. In exchange, Pirate will withdraw its proxy bid and will not seek a second board seat.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Funds processor eFunds said yesterday it has signed with Digital Harbor to combine their anti-fraud solutions for financial institutions. The partnership will combine eFunds’ expertise at deploying data and decision making systems at 8,900 financial institutions with Digital Harbor’s risk and compliance solutions. The partnership will focus on providing financial institutions a view of fraud at the customer level.

SALT LAKE CITY – America First FCU said yesterday it has signed with Leadfusion to implement the company’s electronic marketing software to reach members who are ‘in-market’ for certain products and services. Leadfusion’s CALCULATORS and EMAIL solutions send relevant email messages related to products and services, like car loans, CDs or credit cards a member may be researching online. Leadfusion, known until 2005 as FinanCenter, is based in San Diego.

WASHINGTON – The Treasury Department announced yesterday it has $3.3 million in contracts to two companies who will train local officials to create community development financial institutions, particularly credit unions, for Native Americans, Native Alaskans and Native Hawaiians. The National Federation of Community Development CUs will participate in the series of training programs, the first of which will be how a credit union can help your native community. The programs are scheduled to start this summer. The training programs are part of a collection of initiatives administered by the CDFI Fund focusing on creating and expanding CDFIs in native communities and creating opportunities to build the financial skills and assets of the members of these communities.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – NCUA announced yesterday that Chairman 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 a 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,” John McKechnie, congressional liaison for NCUA, told The Credit Union Journal about Barrett who will the position left vacant by the October departure of Holly Herman.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The University of New Mexico is going wireless–thanks to New Mexico Educator’s FCU. The $600 million credit union has pledged $750,000 to pay for a free wireless Internet connection for the state’s largest campus. Credit union officials said they agreed to make the donation after reading in the local press that the University wanted to make the connection but didn’t have the money. Officials expect that 85% of the campus will have wireless connectivity by the middle of next year.

SARASOTA, Fla. – Sarasota Coastal CU announced it has contracted with Breiter Capital Management to provide investment services for middle- and high-net worth members. Sarasota Coastal has provided financial advisory services to its middle-income members, but it said demand for investment advice was growing from members approaching retirement and those planning to build nest eggs. Tom Breiter, president of the 15-year-old investment manager, and vice president Joe Downs each will manage the investment portfolios of clients.

SAN FRANCISO – VISA USA announced yesterday it has hired Joseph Saunders, who headed Washington Mutual’s cards operations, to lead its transition to a public company later this year. Saunders, who was CEO of Providian Financial before the credit card bank was acquired by WaMau in 2005, will be appointed executive chairman of the board and will help the world’s largest payments company hire a CEO after it floats its initial public offering. Prior to working at Providian, Saunders headed the cards operation at FleetBoston, and before that at Household Financial.

PURCHASE, N.Y. – Credit cards giant MasterCard said yesterday it is planning to enter the international money transfer market with a wireless service aimed at the unbanked. The number two credit card company said it has signed with the GSM Association, which represents more than 700 mobile phone operators, to pilot the new service. Some of the company’s 25,000 bank and credit union members will participate in the pilot.

KENSINGTON, Md. – Lafayette FCU reported that two of its nine directors, who face a recall initiative over their failed attempt to convert the credit union to a mutual savings bank, have resigned from the board. The directors, who were up for reelection this spring, LeAnn Oliver and Drew Luten, represented the credit union’s two main sponsors, the U.S. Small Business Administration and the U.S. Agency for International Development. Members angry over the ill-fated bank conversion are petitioning for a special meeting where they hope to recall the entire board. Under the credit union’s bylaws the directors could be removed by a majority vote at a special meeting, which is expected to draw a small portion of the credit union’s 16,000 members.

PLANO, Texas – A federal appeals court handed tiny patent company DataTreasury another victory in its high-stakes fight for control over a variety of patents for Check 21 technology, a market that is soaring with the conversion of the U.S. economy from paper-based to the bits and bytes of the Internet. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit rejected a claim by EDS in a patent infringement suit brought by DataTreasury over an EDS product called ‘PAY for Check 21,' which provides banks and credit unions an image-based interface. The lower court here has ruled that DataTreasury owns the rights to the technology used by EDS. DataTreasury, which is a holding company for a variety of financial services filed suit last year against 50 of the largest financial services providers in the world and has settled many of the claims for tens of millions of dollars. Among the defendants are the two major check imaging networks, SVPCO and Viewpointe Exchange, which are both owned by the nation’s largest banks. Several of the defendants have signed multi-million dollar license agreements to settle their suits, including JP Morgan Chase, NCR, Diebold, and Zions Bank.

KENSINGTON, Md. - Lafayette FCU has filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit against its former CEO and his son for their alleged role in the credit union's ill-fated conversion to mutual savings bank, the latest in a series of moves aimed at exacting retribution for the conversion debacle.

TOLEDO, Ohio - Five members in a local crime gang believed responsible for as many as six credit union heists were charged with racketeering and robbery in criminal indictments unsealed in state court here.