Links in “Credit Unions”

Increasingly Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks are used as smokescreens to mask other illegal activities. A recent report looks at seven trends that experts are seeing in DDoS attacks that you need to know about in order to protect your information systems. [10/6/15]

A Google Consumer Survey reports that 62% of Americans have less than $1,000 in their savings accounts, while 21% have no savings account. This means that most American consumers have to rely on credit, friends and family, or their retirement accounts to cover financial emergencies. [10/6/15]

NCUA announced that is regional office staff is contacting credit unions in South Carolina that have been affected by flooding to offer assistance in maintaining or restoring operations. The Office of Small Credit Unions is prepared to provide urgent needs grants of up to $7,500 for low-income credit unions. [10/6/15]

The CFPB says it should become a positive force for credit unions. CUNA agrees, but says this will only be the case if the CFPB focuses its rulemaking and enforcement actions on the bad actors and not by imposing additional regulatory and compliance burdens on the good actors, like credit unions. [10/6/15]

Last week the country’s largest league, Cornerstone League, announced that it supported the CUNA Board’s recent decision to retain the dual membership requirement. However, not all leagues are in agreement with that decision. The Michigan Credit Union League board has voted to give its member credit unions choice of membership beginning in 2016. Now, the League of Southeast Credit Unions has announced that it will postpone taking any action on CUNA’s decision until it can survey its member credit unions. [10/6/15]

Credit application data housed on an Experian sever contained personal information for 15 million T-Mobile customers is the latest hacking target. The data, which dated from 9/1/2013 through 9/16/2015, included names, addresses, birthdates, and encrypted social security numbers and other identifying numbers (passport numbers, driver’s license numbers, etc.). Experian is in the process of notifying those who were affected by the hack. [9/5/15]

New flood insurance rules that address force-placed insurance and an exemption for detached structures took effect on October 1, 2015, while provisions that require certain credit unions to escrow flood insurance premiums take effect 1/01/2016. Under the DOD’s revised Military Lending Rule, federal credit unions will be able to exclude one application fee in a rolling 12-month period from the military annual percentage rate (MAPR). Compliance with the new rule is voluntary beginning on Oct. 3, 2015 and is mandatory by Oct. 3 2016. [10/5/15]

The 5% limit on fixed assets for federal credit unions expired on October 5, 2015. NCUA states that examiners will no longer be focusing on fixed assets at federally-insured credit unions unless that credit union has an unresolved DOR, enforcement action or outstanding waiver related to a fixed asset issue, the credit union has weak earnings or other structural issues, fixed assets exceed 5%, or the credit union has or is planning to make a major acquisition of premises since the last exam. [10/5/15]

Here’s why a strong vendor due diligence program is so important. Southeast Financial Credit Union is now in the unfortunate position of having to sue one of its affiliates, The College Network (TCN), to recover $12 million in unpaid student loan obligations. TCN sells course modules and study materials to help students to earn college credits. SFCU, which is the primary financer of these courses and materials, currently holds about $35 million in loans guaranteed by TCN. [10/5/15]

FinCEN’s directer pulled the public eye when she announced data that showed many small credit unions have not filed any Bank Secrecy Act-mandated Suspicious Activity Reports or Currency Transaction Reports in nearly two years. AdvisX regulatory affairs counsel, Chris McCullock, explains what this finding means, and discusses a plausible explanation for such a lack of SAR and CTR reports. [10/2/15]