News Now LiveWire

Australian CUs have experienced strong growth in retail deposits at the expense of their regional banking rivals. http://ow.ly/goIE 1 day ago

Yakima Valley CUs have benefited from larger banks troubles as membership, deposit growth, and overall presence expand. http://ow.ly/goHD 1 day ago

Florida Central CU names CUNA board member Laida Garcia as president, CEO. Garcia succeeds the late Ed Gallagly. See http://ow.ly/gnw7 2 days ago

WesCorp detailed cost-saving initiatives-- including roughly 90 layoffs--that aim to roll back expenses to 2003 levels. See July 6 NN. 2 days ago

Wash. State CUs have seen a 313% mortgage loan increase over the last 10 years, with lower car loan, savings deposit increases. See Mon. NN. 2 days ago

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Latest successes of CUs in the media

MADISON, Wis. (10/7/08)--Credit unions continue to spread the message of their safety and soundness through various media outlets.

Some examples:

• Department of Labor FCU, Merrifield, Va., was featured in a newscast Oct. 2 on NBC4 in Washington, D.C. The news program spotlighted a Department of Labor FCU member who found the credit union's payday lending alternative, Stretch Pay, as a way to get out of high-priced payday loans. Joan Moran, Department of Labor FCU CEO, said the credit union uses the Stretch Pay program to serve its members, and not to make a profit (Focus Newsletter Oct. 6).

• Family First CU, Orem, Utah, announced that it has faced a minimal impact from the turmoil on Wall Street. "Family First has not been out there buying mortgage-backed securities as investments or making subprime mortgage loans, but following conservative, sound lending practices," said Todd Hatfield, Family First assistant vice president of mortgage development in a press release. "It has pretty much has been business as usual for us, as we are welcoming first-time buyers and have been able to get them into a conventional loan with as low as 5% down."

• Nine credit unions in the Schuykill Valley Chapter in Pennsylvania sponsored an ad in the Reading Eagle Oct. 4 with the headline, "It's Great to Belong to a Credit Union." The ad notes that credit unions are safe, sound and federally insured (Life is a Highway Oct. 6).

• Pennsylvania State Employees CU President/CEO Greg Smith appeared on a segment of Smart Talk on WITF-TV Friday. The topic was, "The Financial Crisis--What it Means to Pennsylvanians."

• Ed Mierzwinski, consumer program director at the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, plugged credit unions in an online story. "In general, my recommendation is to bank at a credit union, not at a bank," he said (Life is a Highway Oct. 6).

• Eight credit unions in the Altoona Chapter of Credit Unions produced an ad campaign, "Safe. Sound" with newspaper ads, statement stuffers, lobby posters and other ad pieces. The newspaper ads ran on Saturday and will run again on International Credit Union Day (Life is a Highway Oct. 3).

• SPE FCU, State College, Pa., ran a color ad in the Center Daily Times Saturday and Sunday, which focused on the safety of credit unions.

• Tobyhanna Army Depot FCU, Scranton, Pa., placed a message on its website promoting credit unions. WNEP Channel 16 also filmed a consumer segment at the credit union Sept. 26 (Life is a Highway Oct. 3).

• Heritage Family FCU President/CEO Ron Hance and Opportunities Mortgage Specialist Erica Glidden spoke with Vermont Public Radio on the $700 billion bailout bill. They also talked about how the financial crisis affected the Rutland, Vt.,-based credit union, according to the Association of Vermont Credit Unions. The credit union is continuing to sell mortgages, Hance said. But mortgages are becoming more difficult to maintain, Glidden added (Newsline Express Oct. 3).

• Credit unions were noted in the Macon Telegraph Friday in a question-and-answer article. The newspaper stated that credit unions are insured by the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund and no money in the fund has ever been lost (Oct. 3).

• MaPS CU, Salem, Ore. opened 34% more new checking accounts this month compared with September 2007 because of the economic crisis. Oregon State University (OSU) FCU, Corvallis, Ore., also saw an increase in the number of accounts. OSU FCU opened a new branch in West Salem recently (Statesman Journal Oct. 2).

In the Media

CUs: Safe and Sound statement stuffer http://buy.cuna.org/detail.php?sku=22959

Your Insured Funds booklet http://buy.cuna.org/detail.php?sku=13103

Resource Links

CUs: Safe and Sound statement stuffer

Your Insured Funds booklet

There's Nothing Like a Credit Union statement stuffer

CUs in the Media