Commentary

Eenie Meenie Minie Moe, the site we pick, better grow. Ok, so the rhyme isn't perfect, but the location of your next branch facility better be. Ever wonder if the site you want to buy, or worse yet, just bought, will produce the expected growth projections? Will the site support...

There are two kinds of people in this world. No, not regulators and the rest of us. But those who pay close attention to the recent discourse regarding risk-based capital and actually know what it means; and everybody else. The talk also frequently includes references to the Basel II accords....

Over the past three years, nearly 500 community charters have been granted by NCUA and their state regulatory counterparts. One of the premises behind a community charter is that the credit union will serve the entire community. A portion of the conversion application describes the ways the credit union will...

The credit union industry is experiencing a wave of newly created corporate credit union-owned Credit Union Service Organizations (CUSOs). Recently, the corporate credit union network has demonstrated a significant desire to partner with one another to create these CUSOs. As President/CEO of CU Business Group, LLC, a CUSO equally owned...

The passage of Section 352 of the USA PATRIOT Act in response to the events of September 11, 2001, has motivated some credit unions to take a closer look at the effectiveness of their anti-money laundering processes. The PATRIOT Act does not require the use of software to monitor for...

Well, I was in hiding but Paul Gentile, Editor of Credit Union Times, found me out. Paul asked, "What are you going to do about the debate?" I told Paul that suicide seemed to be the only honorable option left at this point. Paul, of course, said: "I thought you'd...

I have been reading with interest all the articles and letters (especially that of John Siefken in the March 17 issue of Credit Union Times) that have been printed recently about the greed and outright immoral character of any group that would have the audacity to convert a former credit...

While millions of American children are away at college, are you aware how rapidly their credit card debt is growing? From the time they arrive on campus until graduation, students' overall credit card debt doubles. Amazingly, college students hold an average of four credit cards. And while student credit card...