Links in “Credit Unions”

Meet the family that started the first credit union in the country to serve the cannabis business, The Fourth Corner Credit Union in Denver, CO. Their story is similar to the stories behind the chartering of many other credit unions: a need to serve an unbanked field of membership, just with a few more challenges added to the mix. [1/9/15]

NCUA has posted the agenda for its January 15 board meeting and the primary agenda item is the revised risk-based capital rule. Chairman Matz was quoted as saying that she thinks that once credit unions have a chance to operate under the new rule they’ll see “there really wasn’t much to be concerned about.” [1/9/15]

Amazon’s Credit Card Marketplace, a new credit card application portal, is seeing low success rates from the credit unions participating in its pilot program. Two possible reasons have been identified:  1) Credit unions are putting up too many barriers between the “Apply Now” button and the card approval, and 2) The fact that many of the applicants who persisted through the approval process didn’t meet underwriting standards. [1/9/15]

By 37%! For the typical first-time home buyer this could mean a reduction of approximately $900 per year in their monthly payments and make the difference in qualifying for a loan. [1/8/15]

NAFCU doesn't seem too happy about NCUA’s announcement that it is considering a rule that would require institutions to encrypt member data when giving it to examiners. NAFCU claims that the agency should look to enhancing its own internal policies and procedures, rather than imposing yet another rule on credit unions. [1/8/15]

Here are some eye-opening statistics. 27% of all reported data breaches were caused by credit card skimming and 87% of those incidents occurred at ATMs. This article provides practical strategies to minimize these types of occurrences. [1/8/15]

In a recent Letter to Credit Unions (15-CU-01), NCUA announced that its top three areas of supervisory focus for this year will be cyber security, interest rate risk, and Bank Secrecy Act compliance. The letter also notes that there will be increased focus in the lending area to ensure compliance with new mortgage rules, as well as increased scrutiny in the areas of indirect lending and subprime lending. [1/7/15]

New CUNA CEO, Jim Nussle, has completed a restructure of the CUNA leadership team in an effort to streamline communications between Madison and Washington, DC. Out are General Counsel Eric Richard and SVP of Communications Pat Keefe, both long-term employees with the association. [1/7/15]

In light of the recent data breach caused by an NCUA examiner’s loss of a credit union’s thumb drive, Chairman Matz announced that the agency is considering a proposed rule that would require credit unions to encrypt data provided to examiners. In addition, Matz stated that informing the public sooner about this low-level breach could have encouraged criminal activity. [1/7/15]

In our most recent blog post, AffirmX's Jane Pannier delivers the CFPB's prescription for curing overages to the points and fees limit for qualified mortgages. While not a cure-all, the amendments may help relieve the pain related to undiscovered and unintended overages, maintain a loan’s qualified mortgage status, and avoid regulatory violations. [1/6/15]