ATLANTA – Call it what you will: patronage dividend; bonus dividend or interest rebate; credit unions continued to send back excess earnings to their members last week by the millions of dollars. That included an $8.5 million patronage refund and dividend paid by Delta Community CU. A $1 million bonus dividend by Mazuma CU. West Texas CU paid its members $500,000 in loan-interest rebates. And Atlantic Financial FCU said it distributed $450,000 in member bonuses. Rick Webb, president of Atlantic Financial, in Hunt Valley, Md., said they make the annual payment when they meet their financial goals and to differentiate the financial cooperative from for-profit banks. The credit union returned 10% of all interest paid during 2006 on all loans and credit cards, and an additional 10% of all dividends earned on all savings products. “We want our members to recognize the credit union difference and be proud to be part of the credit union system,” said Rob Givens, president of Kansas City-based Mazuma.

BREA, Calif. – An armed bandit locked three members and three employees of The Credit Union of Southern California in the bathroom, then robbed the vault, an ATM and the members of more than $155,000 Friday evening, one of the biggest credit union robberies in recent years. The robber, wielding a semiautomatic handgun, burst into the credit union around 6:15, ordered the members and employees into the bathroom and handcuffed them, then rifled the vault and an ATM. None of the members or employees were injured.

FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif. – David Camp visited one local bank and one credit union so many times the tellers may have considered him a valued customer–except that each time he came in he robbed them. Camp, 54, is believed to be a repeat robber who held-up the Huntington Beach branch of Union Bank five times and the Fountain Valley Orange County Teacher’s FCU branch four times–including last Wednesday. According to the FBI, Camp would hand the teller a note claiming he had a bomb and a gun and was willing to shoot, though apparently he was unarmed. He was described as graying, missing teeth and prone to wearing hats and sunglasses for as disguises. Camp was identified by surveillance videos and arrested last week at a local coffee shop.

UNIVERSAL CITY, Texas – Randolph-Brooks FCU said yesterday it has signed with Ruesch International to implement the company’s Global PayLINK system to process cross-border transactions and currency trading.

TUCSON, Ariz. – Vantage West CU, known until recently as DM FCU, wanted to thank its 100,000 members for a successful 2006 so it did so with a $3.5 million payout this week. The ‘Thank you dividend’ was paid to all members who have a deposit with the $920 million credit union. The amount was credited to their accounts and was based on deposit account balances as of November 30, 2006. Vantage West is Arizona’s fourth largest credit union and has eleven branches.

PALO ALTO, Calif. – Online payments provider PayPal said it is pilot-testing a virtual debit card, in partnership with MasterCard. The system will generate a MasterCard number and one-time card verification code that are linked to PayPal accounts and used when paying for online purchases, instead of a consumer’s own credit or debit card. The virtual debit card will generate a unique number for each new purchase. The new service will replace PayPal’s existing virtual Debit Bar system, which uses a static MasterCard number for online purchases that don’t accept PayPal directly. PayPal is a unit of online auctioneer eBay.

SAN DIEGO – Mission FCU said it has contracted with Learn.com to implement the company’s LearnCenter workforce productivity suite to provide training for its employees at 22 San Diego County branches. LearnCenter provides an entire suite of employee measurement and training products, from pre-hire to retire. The LearnCenter platform integrates all functions in one centralized system and employees have only one login to all training content.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Members Heritage FCU said it has signed with Zix Corp. to implement the company’s email encryption services. Zix’s hosted email email encryption service supports five encrypted delivery mechanisms, including S/MIME, TLS, OpenPGP, secure portal and ‘push’ delivery. Zix is based in Dallas.

SEATTLE – Prevail CU, formerly known as King County CU, said it has signed with TRC Interactive to implement the company’s Internet-based training program for tellers, TellerSolution. TellerSolution is customized with the credit union’s preferred method of counting currency and other terms. The program includes modules for introduction, responsibilities, products and services, counting cash, checks, identification, check cashing, deposits, payments, withdrawals, miscellaneous transactions and regulations.

Randolph-Brooks FCU Offers Foreign Exchange ServiceUNIVERSAL CITY, Texas – Randolph-Brooks FCU said yesterday it has signed with Ruesch International to implement the company’s Global PayLINK system to process cross-border transactions and currency trading. Global PayLINK will allow the $2.4 billion credit union to control important business decisions, including pricing, exchange rates and operational processes. Ruesch International is based in Washington, D.C., and has full-service payments processing and foreign exchange operations in the U.S., United Kingdom, Switzerland and the Czech Republic.

McLEAN, Va. – Longterm mortgage rates held steady this week, with the average for the benchmark 30-year, fixed-rate loan holding at 6.18%, the same as last week; and the average for the 15-year, fixed-rate mortgage rising slightly to 5.94%, from 5.93%, according to Freddie Mac. ARM rates were mixed, with the average for the one-year ARM declining to 5.42%, from 5.47% last week; and the average for the five-year ARM rising to 6.02%, from 5.98%. Interest rates were flat this past week, reflecting the mixed messages from recent economic indicators, said Frank Nothaft, chief economist for Freddie Mac. As a result, 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rates started off the year at about the same level as this time last year. Currently the market is waiting for a clearer signal on the direction in which the economy is heading, and that may come on Friday when the December employment report is released.”

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The City County Credit Union of Fort Lauderdale is looking to the area’s burgeoning Caribbean population to broaden and diversify its membership. The credit union has partnered with Caribbean Vibes, a South Florida public relations firm, and is looking to open new branches in Caribbean neighborhoods. The $250 million credit union has 36,000 members.

CENTRAL FALLS, R.I. – A highly acclaimed after-school literacy program will survive thanks to a $10,000 grant from Credit Union of Central Falls. Funding was drying up for Transition through Arts Literacy Learning, or TALL, afternoon program which helps mainstream special education students to sharpen their verbal skills through performance and creative script-writing. Because of dwindling federal funds, the alternative learning program for more than 500 kids was preparing to close up. The additional credit union funds will help the program run until at least the end of the school year.

BATON ROUGE, La. – La Capitol FCU is poised to move into a new headquarters some time next month, as soon as construction on the five-story, 75,000 square-foot office building is complete. The $300 million credit union plans to occupy 45,000 square-feet on the first, second and fifth floors in mid-February, when it leaves its 23,000 square-foot offices down the street. The remainder of the space will be leased.

PORT ARTHUR, Texas – The 9th grade Spanish classroom at Memorial Ninth Grade Center received a new look over the holidays, courtesy of Port Arthur Teachers FCU and its ‘Extreme Classroom Makeover’ contest. The excitement was palpable when students arrived back to school Wednesday for the first day back from winter break. The credit union refurbished the classroom with a fresh coat of paint, renovated chalkboards, plants and new fans, and bright red stools, as part of aid to education promotion. The 9th grade classroom was chosen by the credit union from among 13 submissions.

HARRISBURG, Pa. – Pennsylvania State Employees CU, one of the most innovative credit unions, has introduced remote deposit that will allow its members to deposit checks over their personal computers. The program, called UPost@Home, allows members to immediately post the check’s funds to their accounts and has them mail the paper to the credit union for verification. The system has proved reliable so far, with the credit union giant reporting almost $600 million in deposits over UPost@Home and less than $30,000 in losses. The credit union ensures against lost checks by calling members if they haven’t received the mail within eight days. The system not only provided added convenience and float for PSECU’s 340,000 members, but saves significant manpower at the $2.5 billion credit union–which operates just three branches. PSECU, which developed the program, is selling it to other credit unions through its eCU Technologies CUSO.

WALL STREET – Boston-based Hedge Fund Bay Harbor Management reported it has taken a 5.1% stake in M&F Worldwide, the holding company controlled by corporate raider Ron Perelman that plans to combine the country’s second- and third-largest check printers, Clarke American and John H. Harland, to create the biggest check printer in America. The Fund reported in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission it has no plans for any shareholder actions with respect to its M&F holdings, which it has seen soar in value since M&F announced on December 20 it has agreed to acquire Harland for $52.75 a share. M&F already owns Clarke American, which it acquired last year for $800 million. Since announcement of the Harland deal, M&F has seen its own shares surge more than 40%, to close yesterday near a new high of $26.18. Bay Harbor has acquired its shares since the announcement of the Harland deal, earning almost $2 million on the run-up in price.

RICHMOND, Va. – A private equity fund called Pirate Capital launched a proxy contest yesterday aimed at forcing the sale of venerable bank security provider Brinks Inc., creating more turmoil in the market for credit union and bank services. Pirate, through one of its funds known as Jolly Roger LP, has accumulated an 8.5% stake in the 148-year-old cash carrier. In a letter to management yesterday the private equity fund urged Brinks management to give it two seats on the company’s 11-member board, where it plans to agitate for a sale of the company, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Pirate proposed that its founder Thomas Hudson and its general counsel Chris Kelly be named Brinks directors. Both Pirate, which has $1.7 billion in assets, and money manager MMI Investments, which has accumulated an 8.3% Brinks stake, have been calling on Brinks for the past few months to hire an investment bank to shop the company. The turmoil at Brinks, the provider of security services for thousands of credit unions, follows closely the sale of several leading outsourcers for credit unions, including Open Solutions, Digital Insight and John H. Harland Co. Brinks was founded in 1859 to transport bundles of cash from banks on horsecarts, with a shotgun-wielding guard sitting beside the horseman. The company reported a 60% drop in third quarter profits to $26.5 million, or 56 cents a share, from $65.8 million, or $1.15 a share, for the same quarter in 2005. Brinks shares rose yesterday after announcement of the Pirate raid to close at a new high of $65.12 on the New York Stock Exchange.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – NCUA ruled yesterday that federal credit unions may provide housing counseling services to non-members under the National CU Foundation’s grant program. In a legal opinion issued yesterday, NCUA told the Foundation that federal credit unions are allowed to provide financial counseling services that “promote thrift or otherwise assist members on financial matter,” and non-members may receive these services as part of the credit union’s community outreach. The Foundation won a $1 million grant last September from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which it awarded to 23 credit unions to help them fund homeownership counseling programs for low-income members. The NCUA ruling means the credit unions can offer the services to non-members, as well. Among the credit unions awarded the grants are: Arrowhead CU, ASI FCU, Brooklyn Cooperative FCU, District Government Employees FCU, Memphis Area Teachers CU, North Side Community FCU, Purdue Employees FCU, SOFCU Community CU.

LAS VEGAS – Cumorah CU, which serves all members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, better known as the Mormon Church, in Nevada, said yesterday it has added three branches with the year-end merger with Kolob CU, based in Henderson. The combination created Nevada’s sixth largest credit union, with $175 million in assets and more than 15,000 members. With the merger, Cumorah picked up branches in Las Vegas, Reno and Henderson.