SAN JOSE, Calif. - You suddenly learn the credit union is being sued. What do you need to know, what should you do? The first step in most credit unions is to tell the boss. It makes perfect sense to alert the CEO and board chairman and get word to...

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa - Some credit unions shy away from the FirstHome program because they fear a lot of red tape and hassle, but Dennis Beadle insists that's no longer true. Beadle should know. He's VP/mortgage lending at Dupaco Community Credit Union. In May the credit union won honors...

HICKORY, N.C. - Srina Hang can relate to the language and cultural barriers this area's growing Hmong population faces in dealing with financial institutions. Hang is a first-generation American. Her parents escaped Southeast Asia at the end of the Vietnam War when the Hmong, who had supported the United States,...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Henry Wirz, president/CEO of SAFE Credit Union, agrees with many others in the Billionaires Club that once you've hit the first billion, the second comes even more rapidly. It's basic math, he points out. "Assuming we continue our asset growth at 15 percent a year, you're working...

WASHINGTON - It's all very well that delinquencies and foreclosures declined during the first quarter this year, but what about those newly-written mortgages that haven't been seasoned yet in the give-and-take of family budgets? What if interest on adjustable rate mortgages rises? Doug Duncan, Mortgage Bankers Association VP and chief...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - "May I see your driver's license, please?" That question is asked many thousands of times a day at the nation's credit unions when cashing a check, opening a new account or handling a wide range of other business. In many states, the familiar photo ID is taking...

CARROLLTON, Texas - How many advertising messages do your members see every day? The most conservative studies indicate it's about 240. Others insist it's 3,000 or higher. A lot depends on whether you count just mass media advertising in newspapers and on television and radio, or if you fold in...

SUNNYVALE, Calif. - Picture this: Two members are talking in a credit union lobby. One insists she'll never move again. "Six months after our last move I still broke out in hives when I saw a moving van. It was such a hassle. I swore if we need more space...