Another body blow to the mortgage market
by. Henry Meier The Wall Street Journal is reporting this morning that the fees charged by Fannie and Freddie, which are involved with nearly 2/3 of all new mortgages in this country, are about [...]
News Archives
Holistic strategy: Just what the doctor ordered
by. Holly Arter To be a good strategic planner, you have to think like a doctor. Why? Because a good physician evaluates all aspects of your health before making a diagnosis and prescribing a course [...]
Irish credit unions: Top o’ the mind
I recently had the great pleasure of traveling to Dublin, Ireland to meet with representatives from the Irish League of Credit Unions. This trip was the first in what I hope will be a series [...]
The small credit union’s secret weapon
As the number of financial institutions declines, many smaller institutions speculate about the uncertainty of their own futures. The downtrend has certainly been widely reported over the past few weeks, even in the general press, [...]
Committed to a cause, committed to a purpose, committed to success
“I love my job! I love helping people! I want to make sure that I can keep serving the under banked!” This is how my conversation started with Mickie Traxler, CEO of Rogue River Community [...]
“Tis the season to ‘Buy Local’…”
By Amanda Brenneman When you hear the terms ‘Black Friday’, ‘Small Business Saturday’, ‘Cyber Monday’ and ‘Giving Tuesday’, you know what time of year it is- it’s Christmas time! (But, questions remain… Where’d [...]
Get your head in the cloud
More companies, from government to manufacturing to retail, are moving to the cloud. We all know the cloud is continuing to grow at a rapid pace. So, how big is the opportunity? We believe that [...]
We look, but what are we really seeing?
by. Anthony Demangone If you manage people, you'll need to check in on things from time to time. But a recent study raises an interesting question. Whatever you see, is it real? And, even more [...]
Are you ready for how technology will impact banking?
by. Chandra Matlock I was watching a presentation from a potential supplier the other day, on how they propose our walls in our new branch should be designed so our credit union can be as [...]
Would you take this pledge?
Whether you consider compliance to be as boring as watching Lawrence Welk reruns in your grandmother’s Florida room (a real life nightmare for those of us of a certain age) or as exciting and [...]
Crowdsourcing goes beyond the usual suspects to find creative ideas
by. Georgann Smith In any given community, there are people with untapped creative potential. The trick is finding them… and then giving them the tools and opportunities to channel that creativity in a way that [...]
Electronic payments industry continues to face hurdles
by. Dan Kramer In its seventh annual overview of the status of the electronic payments industry, Digital Transactions looks closely at ongoing interchange issues, virtual currencies, EMV, and prepaid cards. In the November issue cover [...]
Treat your credit union like a professional sports team
I don’t know about you, but my life has been dominated by the NFL and Fantasy Football lately. My husband, son and I all went into a league together and my kiddo has been [...]
10 signs you need a vacation
Waking up at 3:31am today to take the dog out. Realizing while shivering alone in the yard at 3:39am you haven’t had a dog for 9 years. Going into a DEFCON 1 [...]
Reach for the stars
As a kid growing up during the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo space flights, I have to honestly say I was absolutely fascinated by all the excitement surrounding every launch. From hearing the countdown, “three . . . two . . . [...]