Firefighter Credit Union Newsroom

It was only a matter of time until this happened. A Federal District Court in Michigan held that a blind person has the right to sue a credit union she claims has an inaccessible website even though she is not eligible for membership. The court refused to dismiss the lawsuit, by doing so, ruled that all credit unions could potentially be found to violate the Americans with Disability Act if their website is not ADA compliant. Karla Brintley, the plaintiff, does not qualify for membership at Belle River Community Credit Union. This fact meant nothing to the court, as it ruled that she could prove she was harmed. “Because of these barriers, the Plaintiff has been denied the ability to effectively browse for Defendant’s services and locations, determine eligibility for membership, and compare Defendant’s services and advantages with its competitors.” The court determined that websites are subject to the ADA’s accessibility requirements whenever there is a connection between a we...

For 15 years, Executive Producer Bill Stainton led his team to more than 100 Emmy Awards and 10 straight years of #1 ratings. Today Bill helps leaders produce those kinds of results—in their world and with their teams. Bill Stainton is a multiple Emmy Award-winning TV producer, writer, and performer; an author; a business humorist; and an internationally-recognized Beatles expert. He blends the business smarts he learned from twenty years in corporate management with the show biz sparks he garnered from working with people like Jerry Seinfeld, Ellen DeGeneres, and Bill Nye the Science guy to create entertaining and enlightening presentations enjoyed by audiences around the world! As the executive producer of Seattle’s legendary comedy TV show  Almost Live! , Bill led a talented and highly creative team to unparalleled success: a #1 rating for ten straight years, and over 100 Emmy Awards (29 of which went to Bill). At the same time, he also owned his own corpora...

Be sure to stop by their booth in Seattle and ask Joe Woods how they can help your credit union. Make an appointment to discuss your credit union. Joe Woods SVP, Director of Sales 614-378-0367     jwoods@dolphindebit.com Newark Firemen FCU and Chocolate Bayou FCU have selected  Dolphin Debit  to manage their ATM's. Newark Firemen FCU and Chocolate Bayou credit union were saddled with aging ATMs, too old for an upgrade to accommodate EMV cards, so they saw an opportunity to leave behind the hassle of managing its own fleet. All their ATMs are now with Dolphin Debit. Being smaller credit unions, they just didn’t have a lot of ATM expertise in-house so anytime they had an issue, they had a lot of people pointing fingers. On top of that, it was an aging fleet that they needed to make investments in, and they saw Dolphin Debit as a one-stop solution.” Since the switchover, they have had fewer complaints about ATMs be...

CECL CREDIT MIGRATION TOOLS    CECL is fast becoming one of the "hot topics" for credit union CEOs, CFOs, and their Boards. With the new FASB changes becoming effective in just two years, credit migration is a clear and easy CECL response tool which can properly fund the CU's ALLL account and offer great value to the members.  Randy C. Thompson Ph.D Introduction to Credit Risk Management and Credit Migration (CECL) Credit Risk Management Managing and maintaining a portfolio of performing loans is a basic challenge for all credit unions.  Marketing and underwriting loans is a major function in all credit unions.  However, getting loans on the books is only 50% of the job.  The other 50% is managing loans over their life in the portfolio.  Credit Migration is a powerful tool that credit union leaders are using for this purpose.  His presentation will provide a clear understanding of what credit migration is, how it works and ho...

By Ray Birch CU Today DORCHESTER, Mass.—As more small credit unions seek to expand via community charters to survive, one CU says a closed field of membership is exactly what’s behind its success, and what will carry it into the future. The $265-million Boston Firefighters CU sports some impressive statistics: about four services per member in addition to the share account; rock-bottom delinquencies (0.09%); 87 basis points of ROA, and steady net income each year—averaging nearly $2 million annually over the last five years. It’s a close relationship with its field of membership—Boston firefighters, Boston police and now Boston emergency medical services, Professional Firefighters of Massachusetts, Massachusetts State Police, and Suffolk County Sherriff’s Department—that is bringing members to the credit union who then use it extensively, said it AVP of Operations Cathy Boucher. “Because we have a closed field of membership, we believe we have a better ability to loo...

WASHINGTON–Credit unions should now be prepared for their examinations to include compliance with “customer due diligence” (CDD) requirements. NCUA has said it plans to include CDD in its exams beginning July 1 for the rule that went into effect in May of this year. Under the rule, the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has listed four core elements of CDD that it said should be “explicit requirements in the anti-money laundering (AML) program for all covered financial institutions, in order to ensure clarity and consistency across sectors.” The 4 Elements These four elements are: Customer identification and verification Beneficial ownership identification and verification Understanding the nature and purpose of customer relationships to develop a customer risk profile Ongoing monitoring for reporting suspicious transactions and, on a risk-basis, maintaining and updating customer information The first of these elements was alr...