McLEAN, Va. – Mortgage rates declined again this week, for the sixth week in a row, to their lowest level of the year, according to Freddie Mac. The average for the 30-year, fixed-rate loan dipped to 6.11% this week, from 6.14% last week; while the average for the 15-year, fixed-rate mortgage fell to 5.84%, from 5.87%. ARM rates also kept falling, with the average for the five-year ARM dropping to 5.92%, from 5.95% last week; and the average for the one-year ARM sliding to 5.43%, from 5.46%. Continued signs of slowing in the housing market and weakness in the manufacturing sector helped keep mortgage rates down this week, said Frank Nothaft, chief economist for Freddie Mac.

CHANTILLY Va. – Online Resources Corp. said it has deployed an integrated security system that includes multifactor authentication in anticipation of the year-end deadline. The deployment brings Online Resources’ Internet Banking and Bill Payment customers into compliance with the federal guidelines on multifactor authentication. Online Resources said it partnered with the RSA Security unit of EMC to provide the new security feature.

PHOENIX – Arizona FCU plans to announce next week it is paying its members a $10 million year-end distribution, one of the largest ever for a credit union. The payout will be based on loan interest paid and dividends earned on members through the year. The special distribution will be paid at the end of the month.

WASHINGTON – CUNA was out writing campaign contributions of $38,000 just days after the November elections, having already spent more than $3.5 million on the mid-term elections. In the days since the pivotal elections, which won control of the Congress for the Democrats, CUNA made contributions to Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd, the new chairman of the Senate Banking Committee ($5,000); Nick Lamspson, the Texas Democrat who won Tom DeLay’s House seat ($5,000); Ron Klein, the Florida Democrat who unseated Ways and Means veteran Clay Shaw ($5,000) and old-timers and new comers retiring campaign debt. They were: Tim Mahoney, the Republican who jumped into the race after Florida’s Mark Foley withdrew ($5,000); Barron Hill, the old credit union friend who failed to regain his Indiana House seat ($5,000) and Heath Shuler, the North Carolina Democrat and former NFL quarterback who upset eight-term Republican Charles Taylor ($1,000). CUNA also contributed $5,000 to Henry Bonilla, the incumbent Republican in Texas who is in one of two House races being run-off this month. CUNA also reported in the final days of the campaign it spent another $74,900 on independent mailings on behalf of Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, capping off an unprecedented $235,000 independent campaign that helped Lieberman overcome an upset in the primary to hold on to his seat. During the 2005-2006 elections CUNA contributed more than $2 million to candidates in the House and Senate, another $180,000 to both major parties, and more than $310,000 in so-called independent expenditures, that must be conducted independently of the candidates, putting firmly among the best-financed interest groups.

WASHINGTON – Vermont’s Bernard Sanders, the leading advocate of credit unions in the House who was elected to the Senate last month, won’t be serving on the Banking Committee, where he hoped to introduce the CU Regulatory Improvements Act. But Sanders, who has vowed to introduce CURIA in the early days of the 110th Congress, will still be able to champion the credit union cause in the Senate. The Banking Committee will be chaired by Connecticut Democrat Christopher Dodd and will include three newly elected freshmen Democrats, who were appointed to the panel by soon-to-be Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid; Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Jon Tester of Montana and Robert Casey of Pennsylvania. Because of the Democratic takeover of the Senate, Alabama Sen. Richard Shelby, who chaired the panel in the last Congress, will become the committee’s ranking Republican next year.

SAN FRANCISCO – VISA USA said yesterday it plans to test a battery-powered card that will feature a digital display. The display will be used initially to show single-use passwords. But the technology could also be used to display data, like account information, or even real-time marketing campaigns. Visa plans to test the card somewhere in Latin America where cardholders expressed interest in the technology, according to Visa. Because the cards would be classified by regulatory bodies as consumer electronic devices, he points out, their issuance would require certain regulatory approvals. Also, the issue of the life and the eventual disposal of the battery needs to be addressed, Visa said.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – The NCUA Board is expected to vote to amend the agency’s rules yet again on conversions to mutual savings banks by opening up the process to more member input. The final rule will require credit unions to notify members and allow for special meetings on proposed conversion before the charter switch is voted by the board, and to give members greater access to records and board memoranda used by management and the board in preparing a conversion. This will be the third time NCUA has amended its rules on conversions to banks over the past three years. The Board is also expected to approve a new investment for credit unions, short-term repurchase notes collateralized by first mortgages.

WASHINGTON – Management of Lafayette FCU have refused to share with members a running vote count on the conversion to mutual savings bank they have been monitoring throughout the 90-day ballot, even though NCUA says they can make that information available to members, too. The running tally is being used by management to gauge whether they need to campaign more or focus on certain select groups to win their bid to switch the $330 million credit union to a bank. Michael Herne, CEO of Lafayette, backed out of a meeting with members yesterday at the last minute, after it became clear the vote tally and other critical issues related to the conversion would be discussed. But opponents of the conversion, who organized yesterday’s meeting, said they are confident that the controversial conversion could be voted down. “The people we solicit invariably say they voted no. In fact, nine out of 10 people we’ve asked said no,” said Scott Stiens, a credit union member, told The Credit Union Journal, of their petition drive to recall directors, in light of the conversion.

EL PASO, Texas – A convicted bank robber wanted for several credit union and bank robberies was captured by immigration officials Wednesday morning as he tried to re-enter the U.S.

SAN FRANCISCO – Pay By Touch, the acquisitive maker of fingerprint identification technology, said yesterday it has agreed to acquire loyalty pioneer S&H Solutions and its parent, S&H Greenpoint, for more than $100 million. S&H services include S&H greenpoints Reward program, the digital reinvention of the Sperry & Hutchinson Company’s Green Stamps. The nation’s first loyalty marketing program, introduced around 1896, S&H greenstamps rewarded millions of consumers with stamps that were redeemable for goods and services. Pay By Touch, which provides fingerprint technology to financial service providers and supermarkets, has acquired a half-dozen companies over the past year, including Capture Resource, a supplier of integrated reward programs in an effort to marry its patented biometric technology with rewards programs.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Ed Dupcak, the director of NCUA’s mid-Atlantic Region Two and a behind-the-scenes influence in many agency initiatives over the past decade, announced his retirement yesterday after 33 years with the agency. Dupcak joined NCUA in 1974 as an examiner in New York and worked his way up the ladder, serving important positions with the Central Liquidity Facility, the Office of Investment Services and Office of Community Development CUs, among other things. He was appointed director of Region Two in 2003.

GRANITE FALLS, N.C. – Police are looking for a man who tried to bash his way into a State Employees CU ATM with a sledgehammer last week. The attack, taped on the surveillance video, caused an estimated $35,000 worth of damage, but the machine wouldn’t give up its bounty. The video shows a car pulling up to the ATM, then a sledgehammer hitting the machine several times before the video gives out. Police are investigating whether it is related to a similar unsuccessful attack on a Wachovia Bank ATM earlier the same day.

MADISON, Wis. – A local couple, one described as a hardcore drug addict, were charged Tuesday in connection with nine area armed robberies, including two at Great Wisconsin CU. Jeffrey Dempsey, 29 and Amanda Green, 26, allegedly netted almost $38,000 in the robberies. Green told police she was a long-time heroin addict and robbed the banks because she needed the money to buy more drugs. Green was scheduled to appear in court last week, but had to be hospitalized as a result of heroin withdrawal.

RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif. – The CO-OP Financial Services said it is moving its headquarters to HavenPark, a new mixed-use development. The credit union-owned electronic funds network has signed a three-year lease for 75,000 square feet for $14 million. CO-OP will occupy one of two, three-story office buildings currently under construction.

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – ESL FCU is opening its first branch in the city of Rochester that is not on property owned by Eastman Kodak, its corporate sponsor. The branch is the $3 billion credit union’s 17th and 12th outside of Kodak. The credit union, now New York’s largest, was founded in 1920 by corporate founder George Eastman as a savings and loan for Kodak employees, and became one of the few S&Ls to successfully convert to credit union in 1993.

WINSTON SALEM, N.C.–Allegacy FCU 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. The Mortgage Revenue Bond program seeks to offer affordable housing with below-market interest rates for first-time homebuyers. In addition, the program offers 100% financing. Although Private Mortgage Insurance is required, the premiums are reduced and compare favorably to other standard 100% financing mortgage loan programs, the credit union said. Allegacy’s MRB program also offers a Home Protection Plan, which helps borrowers avoid foreclosure on their homes if they have lost their jobs because of plant closings or due to other economic conditions that may come up. Down payment assistance also is available for buyers who qualify and who may need extra help. To qualify, the borrower must be a first-time homebuyer or must not have owned a home within the last three years, must be a reasonable credit risk, and must buy a home in North Carolina.

WASHINGTON – With mortgage rates falling for the past month, the number of mortgage applications rose by 8.1% last week, compared to the holiday-abbreviated week before, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Applications, including both loans for purchases and those for refinancing, were up 1.9% compared with the same week a year ago. Application volumes had been down by double digit percentages for most of the year. Applications for loans to refinance an existing loan increased 13.7% in the past week. The share of loan applications that were for refinancings increased to 50.1%, the largest share since April 2004. Refinance loans are up about 25% compared with the same week a year ago. Low mortgage rates have spurred a new refinance boom as borrowers flock to lock in lower rates or get out of adjustable loans that are about to reset at a higher rate. The average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage dropped to 5.98%, the lowest since October 2005. Since early July, rates have fallen by 83 basis points, or 0.83 of a percentage point. The rate for a 15-year fixed-rate loan averaged 5.66%, dropping from 5.86% a week earlier. It's the lowest rate since January.

EL PASO, Texas – A convicted bank robber wanted for several credit union and bank robberies was captured by immigration officials Wednesday morning as he tried to re-enter the U.S. Jesus Hernandez, 27, was caught walking across the Paso del Norte bridge into the U.S. as agents with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency checked his name against a computer database of criminal fugitives. Agents captured him as he was trying to change jackets in a clothing store just over the bridge. Hernandez fled in September, just before he was scheduled to surrender, and is believed responsible for armed hold-ups on September 18 at El Paso Employees FCU and at Mountain Star FCU, the same credit unions he robbed last year. He was convicted of bank robbery charges on August 10 and sentenced to 37 months in federal prison and had agreed to report November 8, when he disappeared.

WASHINGTON – A new remittance program being piloted by credit unions to help immigrants transfer funds to Mexico was assailed yesterday as a subsidy to illegal immigration. “Directo a Mexico is being marketed to illegal immigrants who earned this money illegally and now want to be sending it back to Mexico. The Federal Reserve should not be facilitating this,” said Tom Fitton, president of U.S. Judicial Watch, a self-styled government watchdog made famous for its legal battle against President Clinton. The group has contacted the Fed and members of Congress and is pushing its case that the multi-billion remittance program should be halted. As many as 50 credit unions have signed on to the fledgling Directo a Mexico program, which uses the Federal Reserve and the Mexican Central Bank to bypass expensive commercial remittance services and provide direct credit union or bank to bank transfers as a fraction of the cost. John Herrera, chairman of Latino Community CU, contended that the low-cost remittance system was carefully designed as a way to help fight terrorism, drug trafficking and other kinds of international crime. “Experts on national security, including FinCen, the Secret Service, OFAC, all these experts testified during the creation of the U.S. Patriot Act that it was in the best interests of the United States to gather information on the movement of money into and out of the country,” he told The Credit Union Journal.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office last week rejected all claims for a patent on check imaging processing by DataTreasury, potentially opening up the market to competing claims in the critical Check 21 technology. The tiny Plano, Texas, company, which has filed suits against the biggest players in check imaging, vowed to appeal the adverse ruling to the patent office. The U.S. ruling comes after several of the targets of litigation brought by DataTreasury, including First Data, requested a patent reexamination. Other litigation targets include SVPCO, Viewpoint Archive Services, Citigroup and Bank of America. In a statement released Friday, Viewpoint, one of four competing electronic check exchanges, applauded the patent ruling. “Although it is not final, the decision is consistent with our position that earlier patents and other publications describing the use of image technology would invalidate the DataTreasury patents,” the company said. DataTreasury has filed suit against those parties, as well as Wells Fargo, Wachovia Bank, JP Morgan Chase, NetDeposit, RDM Corp., and Groupo Ingenico, claiming that processes used by those financial services giants infringed on patents owned by the company. JP Morgan Chase, NewDeposit, RDM and Groupo Ingenico, all agreed to multi- million-dollar licensing agreements to settle the suits.