Important News. . .
Governor’s Board of Credit Union Advisors appointed. Congratulations to the following leaders from several ICUL affiliates who were recently appointed by Illinois Governor Patrick Quinn to the Board of Credit Union Advisors: Peggy Cummins, CEO, Three Rivers Community Credit Union (Mount Carmel) who will serve as Chair; Alice Clements, Director, Consumers Cooperative Credit Union (Waukegan); Brian McDaniel, Director, Argonne Credit Union (Romeoville); and Karen Woods, Marketing Manager, Decatur Earthmover Credit Union (Decatur). The Board of Credit Union Advisors makes recommendations on rules and policies related to credit unions, and on appointments of state’s supervisory personnel; consults with, advises, and makes recommendations to the Governor and director on matters pertaining to credit unions and advises upon appointments and employment of personnel.
Invest in America's Member Rewards Program: More Ways to Help Your Members Save. Invest in America, your credit union member enhancement program, has already helped over 880,000 members save on new cars, wireless service and more. We also offer Member Rewards, which includes exclusive discounts from national partners like Allied Van Lines, Equity Lifestyle Vacation Destinations, Complete Tax, FTD and CUBenefits (medical and lifestyle plans), as well the program’s newest partners Costco and DIRECTV. A credit union-only online shopping mall will soon be added which will provide your members with cash rebates from over 1200 merchants including Apple, Target and Best Buy! By becoming a part of Member Rewards, you'll be offering your members more than just the traditional financial products and services, you'll be increasing value of membership by providing them incredible savings on the products and services they use most. Plus, your credit union can earn annual marketing incentives when you endorse Member Rewards. Sign up now so your members don't miss out on these excellent benefits. If you have questions feel free to contact Vicki Ponzo or William Wille at the League office.
Enhance or start your financial education efforts with FoolProof; Webinar scheduled. FoolProof can take your credit union from zero to sixty overnight with very little effort from your staff. Marketing is the key to the success of this program and can significantly enhance your community exposure and attract young members. It includes four modular programs for high schools, college-aged people and young adults, parents and grandparents, and for young people coming out of high school, going directly into the workforce. The program also includes two Web sites packed with fresh content updated at least monthly written by consumer advocates and developed specifically for credit unions. Learn more by joining our next FoolProof webinar on March 19 at 10:00 a.m. For details, please contact Vicki Ponzo or Melanie Murphy.
LSC/CUNA Mutual continue teaming up for Card Act update webinars. To help credit unions learn more about the next round of compliance requirements relative to the Credit Card Act of 2009, the Illinois Credit Union League Service Corporation (LSC) and CUNA Mutual have been partnering to host a series of free webinars on the subject. To date, six webinars hosted as part of this series have seen more than 1,350 individuals attend from credit unions in Illinois and those across the country that use ICUL Service Corp. card programs. Among other products, the Service Corporation services card programs in 45 states for more than 3,100 credit unions, and has a portfolio of over a half million cards. Facilitating the sessions have been Wade Whitmus, CUNA Mutual product manager and Cathy Pettis, ICUL Service Corporation senior vice president of operations. The latest webinar in this series was held February 19 and covered more about the February 22, 2010 compliance deadline. The next compliance deadline for the Act is July 1, 2010. Watch for details about another webinar in anticipation of this next date. In addition, all of these webinars are archived on the League’s Web site for reference.
Chapter officials and 990 forms due. Attention chapter officials: your annual chapter officials report and IRS Form 990 were due to the League office on March 1. If you have not already, please submit this documentation to Janet Heep in Regional Management and Diane Rotolo in Member Services, respectively.
Indepth is monthly! As a reminder, ICUL publishes Indepth monthly in an effort to provide news and information on a more timely basis. We hope this new format meets your needs in terms of receiving news and updates from the League. Please do not hesitate to contact William Wille to let us know how we can continue to further improve this publication. Check out the Indepth on the League’s Web site to see all the latest news, photos, and other information regarding Illinois credit unions.
Dates & Events...
Legislative Day is this month! If you have not already, please mark your calendar and make plans to attend the League’s annual Legislative Day event, scheduled for March 24, 2010. The conference will be held at the Abraham Lincoln Hotel in Springfield with the reception to take place this year at a new location - the Governor’s Mansion. The program will include a regulatory update with officials from NCUA and IDFPR, and a credit union legislative issues briefing by Steve Olson, ICUL EVP, General Counsel and COO, and Keith Sias, ICUL Director of State Governmental Affairs, prior to visits to the state capitol with your local lawmakers. A brochure with registration details has been mailed to all credit unions and is also available via the League’s Web site.
Mark your calendar now for the League’s premiere educational event of the year: the 80th Annual Convention. This year’s theme is: "Surf's Up: Catch the Wave!" Make plans now to join us for the convention, scheduled for April 29 – May 1, 2010 at the Chicago Hilton & Towers, and attend your choice of more than 20 educational sessions and visiting nearly 80 exhibits. Invited speakers include: Illinois Governor Patrick Quinn, Illinois Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, NCUA Chairman Deborah Matz, Patrick Adams, Mark Sieveright, John Vardallas, Joe Sullivan and more! Check out all of the Convention on our Web site.
Educational Opportunities. . .
At Bankruptcy, a full-day session to be held on March 3 at the ICU System Center in Naperville (Session Code: 439), you will learn about: automatic stay, means test, unsecured obligations, exemptions, lien avoidances and stripping, relief from stay, reaffirmations, adversary proceedings, cross collateralization, mortgages and bankruptcy.
The IRA Get Technical telecourse on March 4 (Session Code: 441) is designed for those new to IRAs and is a great review for those who have been in the business for a while. It will address the purpose of IRAs, and the role IRAs play in a member’s retirement strategy. Seminar attendees will leave with less apprehension about their responsibilities and compliance issues for opening IRAs at their financial institution.
Attention CUES members: The IFOE and QLN Networks will be meeting at the ICU System Center in Naperville on March 5.
Increasing your loan portfolio continues to be a key strategic goal for credit unions everywhere. Utilizing your existing call center can do just that. At the Call Center Lending Opportunities QuickBites on March 10 (Session Code: 442), learn ways to take advantage of this member-facing channel and hear success stories of methods that have worked for other credit unions. If you need loans, this session is for you!
The UBIT Issues QuickBites session on March 17 (Session Code: 443) will cover the most recent UBIT issues impacting credit unions. Topics covered will include a discussion on how recent litigation matters will impact your reporting requirements, IRS audit update, best practice advice regarding the Form 990 information reporting, and revisions to the 2009 form. Additionally, we will cover items that have been receiving increased scrutiny by IRS and state taxing jurisdictions.
How can service teams consistently outperform their competitors? Participants in the Achieving Sales Results With Your Team Quickbites session on March 25 (Session Code: 445) will walk away with new insights into how they can better distinguish themselves, create value, and most importantly, achieve results.
The Understanding Minor Accounts QuickBites session on March 30 (Session Code: 446) will cover: kids and account agreements, credit union policies, account options offered, and court ordered accounts.
Looking ahead to next month, the Credit Checks/ Conducting Background Checks QuickBites session on April 6 (Session Code: 456) will provide the appropriate disclosures necessary to authorize obtaining consumer reports and to advise what is and what is not allowed once the information is reviewed. This seminar will also suggest how credit unions should implement decision-making based upon consumer reports.
Also to be held next month will be the Financial Counseling for Loan Officers telecourse on April 7 (Session Code: 457). In a challenging economy credit union members may need extra help managing their finances. It is important for today’s loan officers to have a basic financial counseling model handy to help members establish or re-establish good credit histories, streamline their financial management, and ease their cash flow crunch.
Play it again! The audio archive of all QuickBites and telecourses is now 30 days with paid registrations for most sessions. Whether you were unavailable for the scheduled date and time of a particular call or just want to hear the session again, you will have 24/7 access for the entire 30 days after the scheduled session. This feature enhances the value of audio training and is included for no additional charge. The audio archive link will be activated within 48 hours of the live event.