Links in “Credit Unions”

NAFCU has issued a public statement taking the National Retailers Federation to task for what it sees as erroneous claims about data breaches and the measures needed to address them. Despite NRF’s claim that card issuers could eliminate the risk through chip-and PIN technology, NAFCU says that national standards on data security for retailers is a critical component in addressing the issue. [3/6]

Ft. Worth City Credit Union thought it had a clear cut case when it discovered $500 missing from a member’s account. The credit union believed another member, Mike Martinez, a law enforcement officer, had fraudulently withdrawn the funds. Martinez was arrested and fired from his job. Unfortunately, the credit union later discovered the withdrawal was due to a clerical error. Martinez, who has been reinstated, is now suing the credit union and two executives for $1 million. [3/6]

NCUA Board nominee, Mark McWatters, is scheduled for a hearing before the Senate Banking Committee on March 13^th at 10:00 am EST. Previous hearing dates had been delayed due to inclement weather in the DC area. If confirmed, McWatters will replace Michael Fryzel whose term expired last August. [3/5]

A credit union in Alabama and another in Wisconsin are in the final stages of acquiring bank operations.  Three other credit unions have purchased bank operations since 2011. [3/5]

A recent Bankrate.com survey revealed that 72% of credit unions surveyed offered a standalone free checking product, while only 38% of banks surveyed offered a similar product.

An additional 24% of credit unions surveyed offered a free checking account that was contingent on the accountholder having direct deposit and agreeing to the receipt of electronic statements. [3/5]

American Bankers Association writes letter to NCUA's chairman calling out Fort Knox FCU's advertisement on its website that consumers who don't meet any of its eligibility requirements may join an association. Letter calls upon NCUA to prohibit such practices and pledges to notify NCUA of future efforts to circumvent field of membership requirements. [3/5]

Interest rate risk is a top supervisory focus for the NCUA, which notes that supervisor action has been necessary in some "outlier" cases. [3/5]

NCUA has issued Letter to Credit Unions No. 14-CU-04 to remind federal credit unions that the effective date to begin applying for derivative investment authority was March 3 and to let state-chartered, federally insured credit unions know that under state parity provisions they may be able to follow a similar approval process through their applicable state supervisory authority. Federal credit unions must apply before receiving approval from NCUA to use the new derivatives investment authority, and this NCUA Letter provides answers to the most common questions regarding the process. [3/4]

Loans, membership and net worth all experienced growth in the last quarter of 2013, according to data released by NCUA. However, net interest margins declined and NCUA Chair Debbie Matz warned that credit unions should still be concerned about interest rate risk and should avoid concentrations in long-term investments. [3/4]

At least, that’s what a teller from the former Taupa Lithuanian Credit Union in Cleveland discovered. Michael Ruksenas has been sentenced to 17 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to embezzling more than $480,000 despite ten reference letters, including one from his dad, the former chairman of the board of the failed credit union. [3/3]