Stephen Owen has worked for Bank of America and OnPoint Community Credit Union in Oregon, and will succeed Charles Bruen at the Hollywood-based credit union.

To ensure authenticity, Community First Credit Union had its AI-powered voice system learn by communicating with Spanish-speaking employees who could teach it local terms and mannerisms.

John Newett, who joined the credit union in 2011 and was most recently its senior vice president of operations, has become its president and will succeed Ron Collier as chief executive.

Theresa Mason will succeed longtime president and chief executive Dennis R. Adams, who announced his plans to retire from the credit union-owned share insurance fund earlier this year.

The state's Treasurer's office is urging lenders to make loans to cover the steep costs of adoption. Participating credit unions get an extra incentive by being permitted to accept deposits from public institutions — a perk typically enjoyed only by banks.

Both credit unions are based in Jacksonville. VyStar is also in the process of buying Heritage Southeast Bank in Jonesboro, Georgia.

Chuck Purvis, who has led Coastal as its president and chief executive since 2012, will step down in March of next year.

Credit unions were unable to garner enough support for a bill that would allow them to hold funds for government agencies in the Centennial State.

Two years since the coronavirus began its spread, members are still hoarding savings and are hesitant to borrow due to the economic uncertainty. This has led to the industry's lowest-ever yield-on-assets ratio — a key metric for measuring financial health.

Ryan Goldberg succeeded Mark Shobe, who had led the institution since 2000.

Rick Patel succeeds John Faust, who led Diamond for nearly 30 years.

VyStar Credit Union and Heritage Southeast Bank postponed to June 30 the deadline to close their merger. The $196 million deal, announced a year ago, was originally slated to close by December 2021.

The National Credit Union Administration issued only one prohibition order in March, barring Ashley Davis, a former employee of an institution in New Jersey.

The National Credit Union Administration’s effort to require succession planning has raised questions about whether the agency is micromanaging smaller institutions that may not be able to absorb the added cost of compliance.

Thomas Kevin Miller will succeed Barry Nelson, who is retiring in mid-April.

The proposed combination of Vermont State Employees Credit Union and New England Federal Credit Union would create a $3 billion-asset institution. Some past leaders worry that the deal will erase one institution's local touch.

Corrie Rozell, who has been interim chief executive since January, will adopt the role permanently.

By putting younger, more diverse talent in executive roles, CEOs of institutions such as Kaua'i Federal Credit Union in Hawaii and OnPath Federal Credit Union in Louisiana are taking steps to better represent the communities they serve.

Susan Romero, who was chief executive of Winslow Santa Fe Credit Union, has been sentenced to 26 months and ordered to pay nearly $2.4 million in restitution.

Credit unions with less than $100 million of assets are seeing their loans and membership counts shrink. M&A may be the only option for such institutions, which run on skeleton crews and have few options for cutting costs.