Links in “Credit Unions”

Reuters article highlights the battle between the NCUA's Debbie Matz and credit union trade groups over whether the regulatory agency should have the power to examine third-party vendors. [3/10/15]

Protect your members from potentially fraudulent tax returns being filed in their names by sharing the information in today’s NAFCU Compliance Blog.  The blog alerts members to the fact that the IRS will never contact them by phone or other social media to obtain taxpayer information. [3/9/15]

The Wall Street Journal reports that fraudsters are entering stolen credit and debit card numbers and making fraudulent transactions using Apple Pay at an alarming rate. Estimates are that 6% of Apple Pay transactions are fraudulent while only .01%  of typical debit and credit cards are fraudulent. [3/9/15]

CUMIS has filed suit against Burbank accounting firm, Turner, Warren, Hwang and Conrad, over their failure to detect that a branch manager for Priority One CU had stolen more than $1 million over several years from the branch vault.  CUMIS claims that the accounting firm failed to conduct a branch vault audit that would have detected the theft. [3/9/15]

In the case Dana’s Railroad Supply v. Bondi the merchants filing the suit are arguing, among other things, that Florida’s ban on merchants assessing a surcharge on credit card transactions is a violation of their first amendment right to free speech.  CUNA has filed an Amicus brief in which it argues that the Florida statute does not prohibit merchants from doing anything at the point-of-sale to encourage customers to use cash, and that merchants are free to ask Congress or the Florida legislature to cap the fees they pay for credit card transactions. [3/6/15]

NCUA’s Office of the Inspector General has released a report in which it concludes that NCUA acted appropriately and prudently in not announcing at the time of discovery that an examiner had lost a thumb drive containing member data and that there was no attempt at a cover up of the incident. The report notes that another audit is in process regarding the internal controls in place at the agency to protect the security of sensitive information. [3/6/15]

Malware that infected point-of-sales systems at most, if not all, US locations and some international locations has resulted in a breach of the card data at Mandarin Oriental hotels. Industry sources state that the breach likely dates back to December, 2014. [3/6/15]

Someone stole $1.7 million dollars from a $10.4 million credit union in Lynchburg, VA. Federal law enforcement believes it was the manager.   In a not very clever attempt to hide missing funds from the credit union’s SunTrust bank account, a paper tag typed with an ending balance of $2,437,556 was taped over the actual ending balance $907,000 on the bank account statement. [3/6/15]

A bill introduced in the House would require NCUA to conduct a study on the risks to credit unions holding mortgage servicing assets. Many in the credit union community have been concerned about the risk weighing allocated to mortgage servicing rights under the revised risk-based capital rule. [3/5/15]

The Helping Communities Expand Lending Practices in Rural Communities Act has been reintroduced in the House and would allow credit unions and other financial institutions give greater input into rural-area designations. [3/5/15]