Links in “Credit Unions”

You’ve likely had the situation in your credit union where a family member with a power of attorney is looking to do a transaction on an elderly person’s account that doesn’t seem to be in that elderly person’s best interest. How do you handle those situations? To get answers to that and other situations that may indicate elder abuse, join in a Twitter chat hosted by NCUA and AARP on May 13^th at 11:00 am EST. [5/8/15]

The CFPB Director has sent a letter to the House stating that the August 1 due date for the new integrated TILA/RESPA disclosures should not be overly burdensome as August is not a busy month for new mortgage applications, although he admitted that it is a busy month for mortgage closings. A recent House bill would provide lenders with a 5-month “hold harmless” bill from penalties and enforcement actions if the lender can demonstrate a good faith effort to comply with the new disclosure requirements. [5/8/15]

Tom Dorety, CEO of Suncoast Schools and Chairman of CUNA’s System Structure and Governance Task Force, provides more details behind the task force’s recommendation to rename CUNA to America’s Credit Unions and other restructuring moves. Dorety cites the shrinking number of credit unions, size differences among credit unions, and a lack of visible success on the part of the leagues as motivating factors. [5/8/15]

CO-OP Financial Services is truly living up to its name by announcing that it will waive millions of dollars in EMV implementation and set-up fees in order to help credit unions move to chip cards. CO-OP says that it will waive its $6,000 implementation for all in-house credit and debit card processing credit unions, and waive the EMV plastics implementation fee and up to two BIN implementation fees for credit unions that use CO-OP’s generic card program. [5/8/15]

At a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, NAFCU testified that patent reform is vital in order to defeat the deceptive demand letters received by many credit unions from patent trolls. NAFCU and other financial trade associations are urging Congress to ease the cost and burden of patent litigation, require more details be provided in demand letters, and improve the post-patent review process.

Achieva Credit Union in Dunedin, FL plans to merge with Calusa Bank, with the credit union as the continuing entity.  Once regulatory approval has been obtained and the merger is complete, Calusa Bank customers will receive opt-in notices enabling them to continue their accounts with the credit union. [5/7/15]

A lot, apparently.  CUNA announced a major rebranding campaign that could result in a name change to America’s Credit Unions. In addition, the association is looking at a number of structural changes that could include permitting credit unions to join just the national association without having to join the state league, and reducing the size of the CUNA board. [5/7/15]

According to NCUA Chair Debbie Matz, new regulations proposed by the CFPB and Department of Defense could put at risk credit unions’ ability to offer members small, reasonably priced loans as alternatives to payday loans. The DOD proposal, for example, would cap the loan rate at 36% including fees, which would cause many credit union loan rates to exceed the cap. [5/7/15]

A recent article from the Journal of Accountancy states that "68% of Americans are unhappy with the way they financed college." Many of the college grads surveyed would have financed college in a different manner if possible, and some even question if college was worth it. The time to prepare and save for college is right now. [5/6/15]

The NCUA announced Tuesday that 28 federally insured credit unions have agreed to pay civil money penalties for late filing of fourth-quarter 2014 Call Reports. Check out the list of offenders here. [5/6/15]