FRISCO, Texas - Money may not grow on trees, but credit unions end up helping to cut them down anyway to generate all the paperwork needed for daily operations.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Crowe Chizek and Co. LLC, one of the leading credit union auditors, has signed with RightPath Payments Inc. to market and sell the company's web-based payment system.

DENVER - First Data Corp., which has agreed to be taken over by private equity giant Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., has completed the takeover of Wells Fargo's Instant Cash Network, a provider of ATM services for 500 financial institutions, a third of them credit unions.

CALABASAS, CALIF. - On the heels of being acquired by financial software giant Intuit, Digital Insight has released two products designed to consolidate a member's personal or business data on a credit union's website.

WASHINGTON - Authorities are investigating a new computer virus, traced to Russia, that has stolen PINs, passwords and identifying information and other personal data from thousands of credit union and bank accounts.

RICHARDSON, Texas - For members at Texans Credit Union, gone are the days of talking trash with their kids.

BOSTON, Mass. - Simple passwords for online banking security is passé, and now, a study by researchers at Harvard and MIT finds that a popular method where users are asked to select an image, such as a dog or chess piece, that they should see every time they log in to their account, also provides little protection from scammers. When the image doesn't appear, users are supposed to realize that the site may be fraudulent. The popular system is used by BofA, ING Direct and Vanguard, among others, including some credit unions. But when researchers tested the hypothesis using 67 BofA customers using computers where the images were removed, 58 keyed in their passwords anyway. Researchers said they could not recommend using the images as a protective measure against identity fraud.

We have an online training module but monitoring employees' use of it is becoming a full-time job. Is there a better way to prompt employees to complete online training?

MILWAUKEE - Metavante Corporation announced the release of the first receivables lockbox processing solution from its Commercial Treasury Solutions division built on the Red Hat Enterprise Linux platform. This development is designed to extend the reach of the solution by lowering the total cost of ownership, enhancing performance and employing stricter security standards. Benefits of VICOR RIDS 9.0 include:

CORVALLIS, Ore. - Seems that nobody in credit-union-land wants to make the first move when it comes to implementing the new Microsoft Vista.

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. - Microsoft Vista is here, like it or not, and many credit unions aren't ready.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Nearly 200 people "attended" a web seminar hosted by the Credit Union Journal and Mark Monitor entitled, "Protecting Your Members Against Phishing Attacks."

VIENNA, Va. - Everybody wants a piece of the new dashboards that Navy FCU is using to manage key performance indicators (KPI).

LOS ANGELES - Members already expect free service and easy enrollment when they sign up for bill pay, so credit unions are having to add a little icing to lure them in. And the icing they are using? Pricey iPods and furry stuffed animals. So say credit unions that are signing up more bill pay users than many of the nation's other financial institutions.

ST. LOUIS - Annheuser-Busch Employees' CU announced it has agreed to implement OHVA Security's SoundPass multi-factor authentication software.

ATLANTA - A new survey has found consumers (75%) say they are more concerned now with fraud and identity theft than they were five years ago, with six in ten saying they strongly agree with the statement, "Financial institutions should be doing more to protect their customers from identity theft and fraud."

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Vista is nothing more than a whisper at many credit unions, which won't upgrade to Microsoft's latest operating system for PCs until they have to.

MURRIETA, Calif. - CUTEK is working with Moebs $ervices, an economic research firm that provides financial institutions with the data, understanding, and actions necessary to generate growth and profitability. CUTEK will help Moebs integrate its patented method of conducting Commercial Services.

EL PASO, Texas - These are tough days for many lenders as the housing market is flat in many markets and competition is keen in all markets.