Links in “Credit Unions”

The NCUA has announced that interest on lawyer trust accounts (IOLTAs), real estate escrow accounts, and prepaid funeral accounts are now eligible for enhance insurance. [1/29/16]

How financial institutions deal with consumers who have Limited English Proficiency, or LEP, is receiving growing attention from regulatory agencies. In our first non-English episode of Risk Watch, Quinton Harrison, AffirmX Analyst, puts this problem into a poignant perspective as he explains the challenges faced when marketing to LEP consumers. [1/29/16]

The comment deadline for the NCUA's Field of Membership proposal is but days away. Bankers are campaigning against it. So if you want to make your voice heard, here's your chance. [1/29/16]

Here we go again. Maybe. Fraud reports indicate that Wendy's may have had a credit card breach. The fast-food chain is investigating. [1/29/16]

According to a letter from CUNA to Congressional leaders, the recent letter submitted to members of Congress by the American Bankers Association and the Independent Community Bankers Association makes claims that are factually incorrect. CUNA’s letter refutes the bankers’ claims that the proposed rule would allow for unchecked membership growth and that NCUA exceeded its statutory authority. In fact, CUNA states, NCUA did not go far enough. [1/28/16]

Pima FCU has been the target of an inventive scam in which bogus checks that appear to be from the credit union have been sent to consumers across the country who were either selling products or applying for secret shopper jobs on Craig’s List.  The credit union does not know how many checks were sent, but at least $117,000 in fake checks have been cashed to date. [1/28/16]

This very comprehensive article looks at how the improving economy and slowly-rising interest rates should impact your lending strategies. For example, skyrocketing student loan debt has kept many Millennials from purchasing a home, but as their earnings improve credit unions need to be ready to meet that pent up demand. This means developing strategies to compete in the home purchase market versus the refi market and a plan to address the needs of low-income borrowers and borrowers with credit challenges. [1/27/16]

According to the Filene Research Institute, credit unions may not be serving the bulk of their members’ financial needs for one reason; the processes they employ to open new accounts or to submit loan applications is not simple enough. To help credit unions simplify and streamline their internal processes, Filene has launched a new advisory program called “Member Launch’  that helps credit unions identify the barriers to their key services. [1/27/16]

A recent report from the Congressional Budget Office predicts that in 2016 the growth in wages will outpace the increase in housing prices, reversing the trend in 2015.  This means that more would-be home buyers may be able to qualify to purchase a home. [1/27/16]

In the debate over the pros and cons of credit unions and banks, this survey shows at least one thing is clear: "credit unions offer better rates than banks at almost every level on almost every product." [1/27/16]