Governor To Present Budget Address To General Assembly On Tuesday
Gov. Ed Rendell will give his budget address to a joint session of the General Assembly starting at 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, February 9.
The budget for the 2010-11 fiscal year is focused on bolstering Pennsylvania’s economic recovery, creating jobs, keeping taxes under control, continuing investments in schools, and ensuring essential services are provided to older adults and Pennsylvanians in need.
Listen to the budget address online at www.pa.gov or by watching coverage on the Pennsylvania Cable Network.
Branch Closed Due To Flooding
Cross Valley FCU’s branch, located at 280 North Sherman Street, Wilkes-Barre, is temporarily closed due to a water pipe that ruptured more than a week ago. Nearly 20,000 gallons of water destroyed the branch.
The credit union is encouraging members to use other branches or visit the eVirtual Branch at www.crossvalleyfcu.org, until a temporary site is up and running sometime this week.
“We appreciate the understanding of our members who typically use this branch location. We are working to be able to provide a temporary facility at this same site so members will be able to transact business until all repairs are complete,” said Cross Valley FCU President/CEO Leonard Shimko. “We will be sure to make a formal announcement once that site is available.”
The credit union has posted pictures on Facebook. To view, search Cross Valley Federal Credit Union.
Harrisburg Happenings
You can find this week’s edition of Harrisburg Happenings at http://www.pcua.coop/Affairs/Legislative-Publications.aspx. This publication highlights the latest happenings from the state capitol.
Cards Marketing & CARD Act Webinar
Would you like to know how to leverage every marketing resource at your disposal? Do you know the benefits to marketing your card portfolio? Close the gap of uncertainty and gain a sense of direction to marketing a successful card program. The Cards Marketing and the CARD Act Webinar will review available marketing initiatives from Card Services, Visa, and MasterCard; then discuss the influences the CARD Act will have on your promotions.
March 18, 9:30 - 11:00 a.m.
$75 per connection
Register today!
For more information, contact Chantel Hassinger at 800-932-0661, ext. 5263.
Educate Members On Risks Of Online Banking Passwords
Educate your members on the risk of using the same password and username for multiple Web sites, particularly their online banking account.
A recent report issued by Trusteer, a browser security service, revealed that during a sampling of 4 million users over a 12-month period, 73% used the same password for their online banking account as they did on at least one nonfinancial Web site, and nearly 50% used the same user ID and password.
Around 65% of users reuse their user ID on nonfinancial Websites when their financial institution lets them create their own ID, and 42% do so on at least one other Web site when the bank issues them the user ID.
Web sites usually store login information in a database. The implications are serious; if cyber thieves obtain login information for someone's social networking account, they have a good chance of being able to access that person's online financial accounts as well.
Trusteer recommends consumers have at least three sets of credentials: one for financial Web sites only; another for nonfinancial Web sites that house sensitive information about the user; and a third for Web sites that don’t contain any confidential information about the user.
Trusteer Report
Newsmakers
Newsmakers
Cross Valley FCU recently donated two computers and workstations to E. L. Meyers High School, Wilkes-Barre, for its Environment and Astronomy Clubs. Students will use the computers for digital microscopy, astronomical lessons, and to design flyers for local environmental and astronomical events. “We take great pride in being able to support our local community, and we are very happy to be able to make this donation to benefit these students,” says Jeremy Bealla, Cross Valley FCU VP of Information Technology.
First Capital FCU, York, hosted blood drives on February 4 & 5, at two of its branches. On Thursday, the American Red Cross blood mobile was at the South York branch located at 2602 Course Road, York, and on Friday, it was at the Main branch located at 1601 Kenneth Road, York. Nearly 50 First Capital employees, members, and neighbors came out to give. “With blood donations typically low in winter months, we felt this was the best time to set up the drives,” said Tara Houser, Marketing Director.
For the third year in a row, Freedom Credit Union, Warminster, is sponsoring Biz Kid$, an innovative, fast-paced TV series, where kids teach kids about money and entrepreneurship. Freedom’s local sponsorship of Biz Kid$ will run every Sunday morning from March 7 until May 30 on WHYY-TV 12 from 8:30 – 9:00 a.m. Freedom is lending its support to the show because of the program’s focus on educating school-aged children about saving, budgeting, investing, and giving back to the community.
National News
National News
Regulators to ease criticism of small biz loans
WASHINGTON (2/8/10)--The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) on Friday joined federal and state banks and thrift regulators in a message meant to emphasize "that financial institutions that engage in prudent small business lending after performing a comprehensive review of a borrower's financial condition will not be subject to supervisory criticism for small business loans made on that basis."
In a joint statement, the regulators said that they "recognize that small businesses play an important role in the economy and know that some are experiencing difficulty in obtaining or renewing credit," and, in response, are "working with the industry and supervisory staff to ensure that supervisory policies and actions do not inadvertently curtail the availability of credit to sound small business borrowers."
The statement added that "financial institutions should understand the long-term viability of the borrower's business and focus on the strength of a borrowers' business plan to manage risk rather than using portfolio management models that rely primarily on general inputs, such as a borrower's geographic location or industry."
In the guidance, the regulators also recommended that financial institutions focus on the borrower's "plan for the use and repayment of borrowed funds," and maintain "an understanding of the competition and local market conditions affecting the borrower's business" rather than simply basing their lending decisions "solely on national market trends when local conditions may be more favorable."
The regulators also told financial institutions that their examiners "will not discourage prudent small business lending by financial institutions," will not "criticize institutions for working in a prudent and constructive manner with small business borrowers," and, for the most part, "will not adversely classify loans solely due to a decline in the collateral value below the loan balance."
While the examiners will "not classify loans due solely to the borrower's association with a particular industry or geographic location that is experiencing financial difficulties," they will "expect institutions to employ sound underwriting and risk management practices, maintain adequate loan loss reserves and capital, and take appropriate charge-offs when warranted."
New 'hot topics' compliance session slated for Feb. 11
WASHINGTON (2/8/10)--Pressing credit union compliance issues will be the subject Thursday of a Credit Union National Association (CUNA) audio conference. Through this audio conference, credit union compliance professionals can learn about the current hot topics and will have an opportunity to ask questions of the panel.
On the call will be a panel of experts from CUNA's compliance department lead by Kathy Thompson, senior vice president for compliance. Participants in the call will receive an overview of recent compliance developments that will affect credit union operations.
The 90-minute audio conference, scheduled to begin 3 p.m. (ET), will be broken into two parts, with the first segment covering areas that currently require special attention by credit unions, including:
- Credit cards: Troublesome areas in the Fed's new credit card rules;
- July's open-end Regulation Z changes;
- New model privacy notices;
- Overdrafts rules; and
- Consolidation of the Fed's check processing operations.
The second part of the audio conference will provide a quick update on developing compliance issues, such as:
- Proposed internet gambling regulations;
- Risk-based pricing; and
- The Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act of 2008 (SAFE Act).
Pressing CU Compliance Issues audio conference
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