The Minnesota Credit Union Network has been a partner in Minnesota's fraud enforcement partnership taskforce since 2007. The partnership consists of a variety of organizations that work together to reduce Minnesotan's losses to fraudulent sweepstakes, lottery schemes and mass marketing frauds.

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Survey Shows Free ID Theft Services Can Attract Members

BRENTWOOD, Tenn. — Secure Identity Systems teamed up with Harris Interactive to conduct a survey that financial institutions may be able to gain members by offering free identity theft protection services.

The survey polled 2,212 U.S. adults ages 18 and up on banking and identity theft. The results showed that 57% said that they would be at least somewhat likely to switch to another bank if that bank offered free identity theft protection services, and 26% said that they would likely switch for free identity theft protection.

"The results of the survey were somewhat to be expected, but what I thought was surprising was the amount of people that said they would switch institutions for free identity theft services," said Tom Harkins, chief strategy officer for Secure Identity Systems.

Other reasons survey respondents said they would switch financial institutions were for a $100 deposit in their account (28%), for lower account fees (23%), a digital camera (12%) and a raffle entry for a free vacation (6%).

Harkins said that offering free identity theft protection would cost approximately $3.00 per member.

"If I'm a marketing person from a credit union, I'm looking at these results and saying 'boy consumers really want free identity theft protection.' If you look at the numbers, almost the same amount of people said they would switch for $100 as those who said they would switch for free identity theft protection, and there's a huge difference in cost between the two," Harkins said.

The survey also showed that consumers are more concerned about being a victim of identity theft than whether their bank will fail or that fees are too high. Of those surveyed, 40% said that they are worried that they might be a victim of identity theft, 39% said they are worried that their bank may fail given the current financial crisis, 32% said they feel their bank charges fees that are too high, and 31% are concerned that they will not be reimbursed should their bank fail.

"That's a pretty high number. If you have 10,000 members then that's 4,000 that are worried about identity theft. For a credit union, you can address the concerns of current members and gain new members for a pretty inexpensive price by offering services for free," Harkins said.

Thirty-five percent of consumers also said that they are only somewhat or not at all confident that their personal information is secure at their bank or financial institution.

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Ohio League Relocating

DUBLIN, Ohio — In a long-planned move to enhance its advocacy image, the Ohio Credit Union League has relocated its headquarters here to a downtown Columbus site across the street from the state capitol building.

"Our move indeed is part of a public advocacy program to be closer to state lawmakers," said a league spokesperson. The league has been in Dublin, a Columbus suburb, for 10 years.

The 20 league employees were slated to officially move last week into the new office space in the One Columbus Center, with many staffers already occupying temporary quarters in the building.

The relocation from Dublin was preceded by the sale six months ago of the league's building to one of its tenants, a computer consulting firm.

"Our goal has always been first and foremost to convey a message to legislators about the credit union importance in the financial community," said the spokesperson. The Ohio move follows a trend by state leagues elsewhere to get closer to seats of state power with one of the most recent being the Oklahoma league's plans in 2009 to move from Tulsa to Oklahoma City.

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Wright-Patt Merges With Ohio CU

FAIRBORN, Ohio — The policy at the $1.3 billion Wright-Patt Credit Union has long been to shun mergers in favor of "focusing on the member."

But last month the state's largest CU has agreed to take in the $2.7 million Grimes CU of Urbana, which pursued Wright-Patt as a merger partner.

"It simply has not been part of our strategy to look for mergers, but in this case we decided there is a viable community fit," explained Jeff Carpenter, vice president of membership and development in detailing the merger, which became effective Nov. 1.

Wright-Patt's policy has been to seek organic growth but the Grimes management "specifically chose us" for consolidation, said Carpenter.

Grimes, chartered in 1980, has 1,400 members while Wright-Patt retains 900 of its own members in the Urbana market. Wright-Patt, with 168,000 members, completed its last Ohio merger in 2005.

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Baxter Credit Union Expands State's Green Auto Loan Program With Its Own

VERNON HILLS, Ill. — Baxter Credit Union expanded the Illinois State Treasurer's Office's green rewards program and is now offering its own green auto loan program to its members nationwide.

Baxter participated in the state program from August 2007 through May 2008 and issued $28,000 in rebates during that time period.

The program offers interest rates 35 basis points lower than regular auto loans to borrowers who purchase a hybrid or alternative-fuel vehicle.

In an effort to further promote green practices Baxter primarily has been promoting the program through e-mail marketing to reduce waste from traditional mailings. Baxter is also working directly with member employer groups to promote the program. Among its own employees, Baxter has designated green parking spots for hybrid and alternative fuel vehicles.

"Baxter is proud to support alternative fuel vehicle purchases, particularly during this time of record high gas prices–in addition to contributing to the overall environmental effort," said Michael G. Valentine, president/CEO of Baxter.

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FHA-Approved CUs Are Eligible to Grant Hope for Homeowners Mortgages

WASHINGTON — FHA-approved credit unions are eligible to originate mortgages under the Hope for Homeowners (H4H) program. CUNA has issued a final rule analysis on the program that is accessible from its Web site.

The program allows lenders to refinance delinquent mortgages into 30-year, fixed-rate FHA-insured mortgages.

Lender participation is voluntary. All lienholders including those who are subordinated must agree to participate. The lender or mortgage investor must reduce the loan principal and will receive a guarantee for no more than 90% of the home's current appraised value.

In addition, the lender would have to pay a 3% FHA loan origination fee.

The program became effective Oct. 1 and applies to loans originated after Jan. 1, 2008.

One of the program's requirements is that borrowers must agree to share with FHA both the equity created at the beginning of the new mortgage and any future home appreciation.

FHA has admitted that the shared equity and appreciation requirements of the loans can make them a tough sell to troubled borrowers.

But, interest in the program seems to be high; FHA has reportedly been fielding 1,000 calls a day from interested borrowers.

For CUNA members, the address for its analysis is http://www.cuna.org/reg_advocacy/member/analysis/fed_102308.html.

H4H was created under the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, which was signed into law in July.

Of the nation's 8,136 credit unions, 123 were FHA-approved as of September 2008.

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