Veridian CU announced yesterday it had awarded $15,000 in financial education grants to five local organizations.

Lafayette Hosts Q&A On Conversion Proposal

CUAO Names Award Winners

After years of trying, credit unions finally got a seat on a Federal Home Loan Bank board of directors.

United Nations FCU has launched UNFCU Financial Advisors (UNFCU FA), a CUSO dedicated to helping credit unions develop and implement financial and nonfinancial programs for their members.

CUNA and World Council of Credit Unions welcomed credit union leaders from the world's seven largest credit union associations: Canada, Ireland, Australia, the Caribbean, Poland, Brazil and the United States, at meetings this week in Washington.

A significant number of consumers who opt-out of receiving e-mail from financial institutions responded to some type of incentive in exchange for opt-in participation, according to a recent study by Synergistics Research.

Altura CU rewarded nine area high schools for their successful football programs with donations of $8,200.

Pay Rent, Build Credit has received a U.S. Patent for an alternative credit rating system that uses commonly recurring bill payments for individuals and small businesses to establish a credit file, credit report and credit score.

In yet another study, the federal government said that credit unions have been shifting their focus from the underserved to upper-income members since the onset of the massive move to convert to community charters.

What's the greater problem for a rural credit union? Too little cash on hand or too much?

Allegacy Federal Credit Union has entered into a partnership with this state's Housing Finance Agency to promote home ownership among consumers who otherwise would not qualify for a home loan.

BECU, Tukwila, Wash., named Stephen Black director of marketing.

The Senate will make perceived abuses in the credit card market, including rising and hidden fees, one of its first courses of business when it reconvenes next year. Democratic Sen. Carl Levin, who will become chairman of the Senate's permanent subcommittee on investigations next month, said he plans to hold hearings next year on credit card issuer "abuses" and introduce legislation to correct them.

Latino Community CU announced the creation of a new scholarship fund to commemorate Misrael Martinez, a U.S. Army Staff Sergeant who gave his life last month in the Iraq war.

It seems that lately, Seattle Metropolitan CU CEO Robert Harvey can't go anywhere without people giving him a lock-eyed stare.

Membership growth was almost flat during the first half of 2006, and the squeeze on profitability has been well documented. Yet some credit unions have been experiencing robust increases in membership and healthy bottom lines.

Credit union representatives met again with the bankers to negotiate a bill that would settle their long legal battle over field of membership but were unable to come to an agreement, despite being urged to do so by state legislative leaders. "We're closer, I think, then when we started, but we're still far apart," Max Cook, president of the Missouri Bankers Association, told The Credit Union Journal.

A member of ASI FCU was convicted in federal court for stealing $14,000 from the credit union after its ATMs went offline in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

According to the latest Experian-Gallup Personal Credit Index survey, nearly one in five (19%) consumers report they have had their financial information stolen, including a bank or credit card number. Approximately one in seven (14%) say they have had their personal information stolen, such as a birth certificate, driver's license or Social Security number.