SAN DIEGO - USA FCU said it is offering $7,500 in college grants through its Martin P. Cassell Scholarship program.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Beacon Federal Savings Bank, one of the first CUs to convert to a bank charter has never left its CU roots far behind and has yet to go public as other converts have done. The $600-million bank has used mergers with other CU converts as a growth strategy, most recently acquiring Marcy FCU, after the $20-million CU converted to mutual thrift just before the new year.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - NCUA said last week a federal credit union may fund potential employee benefit plan obligations with investments that are not permissible for a federal credit union.

He seemed neither a sick man, nor a spiteful man, the underground informant who said he was from Norway and who warned an East Coast credit union last year that a hacking ring was rallying to steal its credit card information.

Credit unions have been beefing up security on their side in an attempt to validate that it is, in fact the member who is trying to make an online transaction, not a criminal who has stolen the member's identity. Many have added a "challenge question" to the login process. Here are three reasons why credit unions need to change their focus from, "How do we know it's the member?" to "How does the member know it's us?"

MILWAUKEE - Metavante announced it has acquired Valutec Card Solutions Inc., a Franklin, Tenn.-based gift card supplier and processor. The deal gives Metavante's financial institution clients the ability to offer merchant-branded cards and services to their customers. Valutec has more than 13,000 merchants in its client network.

Events

DENVER-Dow Jones is reporting that Centrix Financial LLC, now in the midst of Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings here will go forward with the sale of its auto-loan servicing business to Falcon Investment Advisers, Everest Reinsurance Holdings Inc. and Robert Sutton, Centrix's founder and CEO, for about $30 million.

KENSINGTON, Md. - Faced with a dubious vote result, Lafayette FCU withdrew its application with NCUA to convert to a mutual savings bank, prompting finger-pointing among the parties involved.

TREVOSE, Penn. - An online training platform has some employees champing at the bit to complete compliance courses at TruMark Financial Credit Union here.

Having relocated recently, I've been looking about for a new credit union to join. High on my list of criteria in making a choice? Branches. Which is odd, since I visit my current CU about as frequently as Dick Cheney downloads Al Franken's radio show to his iPod.

AUSTIN, Texas - Velocity CU has filed suit in state court claiming a $10 million retirement plan it established for top executives will not pay out as promised.

Greater Minnesota CU, Mora, named Scott Moe assistant vice president of lending.

ALBANY, N.Y. - Alternatives FCU received a $60,000 grant from the Empire State Development agency that the community development credit union will use to help women and minority businesses.

COLUMBUS, Ind. - Centra CU has a new idea to get people to save-especially those small savers-a prized-based savings account.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - The Internet is on its way out.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The merger of Ent Federal Credit Union and the Pueblo, Colo.-based Decibel Community Credit Union became final on Jan. 1, and the outlook for the combined entity is rosy.

LAS VEGAS - Online members have been slow to buy retail gift cards at the prepaid-and downplayed-card website at Silver State Schools CU.

WASHINGTON - Several Hedge Funds are apparently scouting out credit union conversions and attempting to obtain membership in the converting credit union in order to get in on the ground floor of a future stock offering. In a phone conversation with the Credit Union Journal one Hedge Fund representative said his fund had made deposits in at least two converting credit unions and was seeking to establish membership in Lafayette FCU as it was switching to a mutual thrift.

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