Links in “Credit Unions”

The boards of the two leagues have approved a letter of intent to explore a consolidation following the recommendations from a joint exploratory committee. The declining number of credit unions in the two states is being cited as one reason for consideration of the merger. [12/16/14]

No one in the credit union industry is happy about the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s new proposed rule that would require credit unions to retain 10% of all of their assets in residential mortgages in order to retain their membership in the Federal Home Loan Bank system. All agree that, if adopted, the proposed the rule could significantly limit a valuable source of liquidity for credit unions. [12/15/14]

Health One Credit Union of Detroit has become the 11^th federally insured credit union to be liquidated in 2015. New England Federal Credit Union of Williston, VT, immediately assumed the credit union’s members, shares, and selected loans. [12/15/14]

The new credit scoring model is designed to better assess the risk of small dollar borrowers and to make the process more cost effective for lenders. The model is now available for use with all 7(a) loans of $350,000 or less. [12/15/14]

Indictments are coming in for a massive loan fraud scheme that affected 21 institutions nationwide, including 15 credit unions. The scheme involved fake car dealerships in California, a network of straw borrowers, and falsified loan documents and is alleged to have netted the thieves between $1 million and $2.4 million dollars. [12/12/14]

The Senate has approved a bill that will provide parity for federally insured credit unions with banks to establish escrow accounts, such as IOLTA accounts. The bill is now just waiting for the president’s signature. [12/12/14]

If you are considering offering Apple Pay through your credit union, you need to be aware of the regulatory requirements, including compliance with vendor management requirements, as well as the regulatory requirements under Regulation Z and Regulation E. [12/12/14]

Securityplus FCU in Baltimore, MD, will be participating in pilot program to test a new biometric ATM that will use facial scanning technology to authenticate a cardholder’s identity. Securityplus has been using other forms biometric identity technology for employee verification for over ten years. [12/12/14]

A top FBI official told the Senate Banking Committee yesterday that mobile banking may be vulnerable because mobile devices may not be updated with security patches and may be subject to malware that is designed to specifically target mobile devices. He added that to date Android devices have been have been the prime target. [12/11/14]

NCUA Board member Mark McWatters has confirmed to CUNA that he would support the addition of a provision in the proposed risk-based capital rule that would provide credit unions the opportunity to use supplemental capital to meet their RBC requirements. The NCUA Board is scheduled to take up the new proposed rule at its January 15^th meeting. [12/11/14]