Published by the New Jersey Credit Union League, www.njcul.org

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In this issue:

1. 2007 CONVENTION RECAP
2. COME TO A ROUNDTABLE … BRING A COLLEAGUE!
3. NOVEMBER EDUCATION SESSIONS: SAVE THE DATES!
4. TAKE A BITE OUT OF FALL: A QUICK BITE
5. WHY REGISTER EARLY FOR EDUCATION SESSIONS?
6. TRANSFORM IDEAS INTO ACTION AT THE 2008 CEO SUMMIT
7. REX JOHNSON’S UNIVERSITY OF LENDING IS COMING TO
   ATLANTIC CITY
8. SAVE THE DATE: ANNUAL LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE 2008
9. DIFFERENCE YOU HIT THE AIRWAVES
10. LEAGUE OFFERS BSA BOARD TRAINING
11. THE LEAGUE'S COMPLIANCE DEPARTMENT PROVIDES TELEPHONE SUPPORT
12. PROPOSED INTERNET GAMBLING RULE COULD IMPACT ELECTRONIC PAYMENTS
13. CREDIT UNIONS UNITE TO DISCUSS SMALL CREDIT UNION CHALLENGES
14. ARE YOU HELPING THE MOVEMENT BY MAKING CREDIT UNIONS MORE CONVENIENT?
15. THE CHILDREN'S MIRACLE NETWORK NEEDS ALL OF US!
16. NJCUL CREDIT CARD DATA-BREACH LEGISLATION
17. STATE SALES & USE TAX EXEMPTION LEGISLATION
18. DO YOUR MEMBERS COUNT?
19. ARE YOU CONNECTED?
20. CREDIT UNION CAREERS

2007 CONVENTION RECAP
Congratulations to League staff and credit union volunteers on another successful Annual Meeting & Convention! There were challenges with the new venue but the overall feedback from convention attendees was positive! Those whose experiences were not favorable were heard as well, and we are taking all comments into consideration for planning of the 2008 Annual Meeting & Convention. Thanks to all of you who took the time to complete the new survey!

COME TO A ROUNDTABLE … BRING A COLLEAGUE!
In November, we have two Roundtables: The Lending Roundtables will be held on November 20, 2007 at Campbell Employees FCU in Cherry Hill, NJ and on November 27, 2007 at Proponent FCU in Nutley, NJ. The Marketing Roundtables will be held on November 28, 2007 at Bay Atlantic FCU in Vineland, NJ and on November 29, 2007 at Proponent FCU.
If you have not experienced the education & networking of a roundtables, do give it a try!

NOVEMBER EDUCATION SESSIONS: SAVE THE DATES!
The League, along with HR Value Group will be offering the Management Certification Program entitled “Creating Greater Managers Series”. Session One will be held on November 1, 2007 and Session Two on December 13, 2007.

Other opportunities in November:

• Collections and Bankruptcy Conference will be held on November 13 & 14, 2007 at the League office.
  
• IRA Training is scheduled for December. Check the website for details!

TAKE A BITE OUT OF FALL: A QUICK BITE
In addition to the face-to-face educational opportunities, we have some alternative opportunities to mention as well. Our Quick Bite topics this fall are:

• Oct. 23 Face to Face Selling Skills
• Oct. 30 Disaster Recovery – Business Continuity
• Nov. 7 Create an Irresistible Offer
• Nov. 15 Presenting with Power and Pizzazz
• Nov. 20 Indirect Lending
• Dec. 4 Irate Member Complaints

WHY REGISTER EARLY FOR EDUCATION SESSIONS?
While the League tries not to cancel education sessions, sometimes it is necessary due to extremely low enrollment. Recently, a management class was canceled. This class entitled, “Creating Greater Manager Series” was contracted through HR Value Group with their company taking enrollments and fiscal responsibility for the sessions. While many of our credit unions sign up last minute, it is difficult to give the go ahead on a class when only three have registered for the first session and one registered for the second.
Once the class was canceled with notice on the web site, we received some phone calls from several credit unions. As a result, the sessions have been rescheduled for November 1 and December 13. Please plan ahead and register early for your educational needs.

TRANSFORM IDEAS INTO ACTION AT THE 2008 CEO SUMMIT
January 21-24, 2007 in Naples, Florida! For more information, watch your mailbox for brochures or call Barbara Agin at 609.448.2426 x111.

REX JOHNSON’S UNIVERSITY OF LENDING IS COMING TO ATLANTIC CITY
Through a combination of credit union inquiries and the help of Ann South, Novartis FCU, the Rex Johnson University of Lending class is coming to our state! The dates are March 10-14, 2008 at the beautiful Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, NJ. More details will be made available shortly.

SAVE THE DATE: ANNUAL LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE 2008
Do you want to attend a great conference that will energize and motive you to greater success at your credit union? Our Leadership Conference can do just that! Because it is a much smaller conference than our Annual Meeting and Convention, there is more time to focus on great education and networking throughout the event! Mark your calendar for April 14 & 15, 2008 at the Borgata Hotel & Spa, Atlantic City, NJ.

DIFFERENCE YOU HIT THE AIRWAVES
The New Jersey Credit Union Advertising Cooperative’s Difference YOU campaign hit the airwaves with a four week media flight on radio and cable TV. The campaign, which featured “Bob the Credit Union Guy,” delivered a variety of advertising messages, including “It’s All About YOU,” “Our Focus is YOU,” “The Difference is YOU,” “YOU Belong Here,” and “YOU Are the Bottom Line” with five television commercials and four radio spots. “Bob the Credit Union Guy” charmed League convention attendees in September and the Ad Coop was the title sponsor for Magic 98.3's All About Women Expo on October 14th in Edison. There were more than 830 radio and television spots broadcast over the fall flight with an additional 200 All About Women Event promotional spots that highlighted sponsorship by NJ’s credit unions. Ads are also running on PoliticsNJ.com, the state’s leading political website.

For information on how to join the NJ Credit Union Advertising Cooperative contact Chris Abeel, at 800.792.8861, ext 127 or cabeel@njcul.org.

LEAGUE OFFERS BSA BOARD TRAINING
By the end of August the NJCUL Compliance Department will have provided more than twenty-five in-person Bank Secrecy Act training sessions for credit union boards. The FFIEC Manual and NCUA Examiners are requiring that credit union boards have sufficient knowledge about BSA. The League has stepped up to assist credit unions in meeting this knowledge requirement by providing training to board members. Many sessions have been held in the evening and most at the credit union's location. The approximately one hour session focuses specifically on what Board's need to know about BSA.

Arrange for your board to get the training it needs by contacting the League's General Counsel Robbie Thompson at 609-448-2426 x126.

THE LEAGUE'S COMPLIANCE DEPARTMENT PROVIDES TELEPHONE SUPPORT
Do you ever have a compliance or regulatory issue that you can't find the answer to? How about a debate in the office about what a regulation requires? Well if you do, the League's compliance department is here to help. Every month the League's compliance staff receives numerous calls from credit unions with compliance questions on lending, deposit regulations, collections, operations, policies, Bank Secrecy Act, and other areas that affect your credit union. While the League cannot provide you with legal advice, it can answer regulatory questions as well as point you to or provide you with additional valuable resources. This is another benefit included with membership in the New Jersey Credit Union League. Take advantage of this benefit by calling your League when you need assistance at 800.792.8861.

PROPOSED INTERNET GAMBLING RULE COULD IMPACT ELECTRONIC PAYMENTS
The Department of the Treasury and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve Board have issued a proposed rule to implement the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. The Act prohibits gambling businesses from accepting payments with ties to unlawful Internet gambling. These payments include credit cards, electronic funds transfers, and checks. The proposal requires financial institutions that participate in designated payment systems to have policies and procedures that are designed to prohibit payments made to gambling businesses with ties to unlawful Internet gambling. The federal agencies request comments on the proposed rule.
Comments are due by December 12, 2007. A summary of the proposed rule can be found on the Federal Reserve Board’s Web Site at http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/press/bcreg/20071001a.htm

CREDIT UNIONS UNITE TO DISCUSS SMALL CREDIT UNION CHALLENGES
On September 18th, the NJCUL Small Credit Union Taskforce Credit held its first meeting to discuss the challenges faced by small credit unions and to begin their charge to create a League sponsored initiative to ensure the future vitality and success of smaller credit unions in New Jersey. On October 11th the taskforce met again to more clearly start to define the initiative and review the many things the NJCUL and other League's do for smaller credit unions. Because ensuring a strong future for small credit unions is important to credit unions of all asset sizes, the taskforce is made up of credit unions ranging from around $1M in assets to over $150M in assets. Continue to watch for more information about the efforts of the Small Credit Union Taskforce. If you have questions about the progress of the taskforce, contact Robbie Thompson or Jim Merrill at the League.

ARE YOU HELPING THE MOVEMENT BY MAKING CREDIT UNIONS MORE CONVENIENT?
Joining the Shared Branching Network adds value for your members! With the competition so fierce, credit unions need the added convenience that shared branching provides. When your members visit one of the many service centers, they can expect to get the same great service they receive at your credit union because shared branching locations all have a common goal-great member service. When your member enters one of the many service centers, they simply supply the teller with their credit union’s name, account number and photo identification to easily access their account [free of charge]. Here are some examples of transactions available at shared service center locations nationwide:

• Deposits
• Withdrawals
• Check cashing
• Transfers between accounts
• Loan payments
• Money orders and traveler's checks

For a complete directory of participating locations in New Jersey and across the country, visit www.cuservicecenters.com to access addresses, phone numbers, and hours of operation.

THE CHILDREN'S MIRACLE NETWORK NEEDS ALL OF US!
The 170 Children’s Miracle Network hospitals are there 24 hours a day to help kids of every age and background overcome every imaginable disease and injury—from asthma and broken bones to cancer, heart defects, pediatric AIDS, muscular dystrophy and serious injuries. These children’s hospitals are also on the front lines of preventing disease and injury through research, education and outreach programs that keep millions of kids out of the hospital each year. As a credit union, a member of a collective effort, you have the ability to directly impact your community by providing for our future leaders …. Our children!

Anyone interested in supporting CMN by purchasing Tee Shirts, please contact Yvette Segarra at 800.792.8861 ext.103 - Cost is a donation to CMN! Please help support this very worthy cause.

NJCUL CREDIT CARD DATA-BREACH LEGISLATION
Legislation that would limit retailers’ use and retention of personal customer information, hold a breaching party financially responsible for resulting losses including the cost of card replacements and fraud, and allow issuers to disclose to their card-holders the entity responsible for the breach was introduced June 18, 2007. In March we hosted a meeting with the bankers associations to discuss mutual concerns and interests in this area. The legislation, A-4413 sponsored by Assembly Financial Institutions & Insurance Committee Chair Neil Cohen (D-20), is the result of our partnership with the community bankers.

For more information on this and other state or federal issues contact Chris Abeel, the League’s director of government affairs at 800.792.8861, ext 127 or cabeel@njcul.org.

STATE SALES & USE TAX EXEMPTION LEGISLATION
Legislation that would exempt purchases made by state chartered credit unions from NJ sales tax giving them parity with their federally chartered counterparts was introduced June 18, 2007. While similar bills have been introduced over the past few years, This bill, A-4403, is sponsored by Assembly Majority Leader and State Democratic Committee Chair Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-15) significantly improving its prospects for favorable consideration. Special thanks go to Shirley Spruill, president of Renaissance CDCU and chair of the NJ Credit Union Advisory Council for leading this initiative. Her efforts secured Assemblywoman Watson Coleman’s sponsorship, without which serious consideration was extremely unlikely.

For more information on this and other state or federal issues contact Chris Abeel, the League’s director of government affairs at 800.792.8861, ext 127 or cabeel@njcul.org.

DO YOUR MEMBERS COUNT?
A letter and CD were recently sent to every credit union in the country asking them to update their Project Zip Code (PZC) numbers. Will your members be among the millions of credit union members willing to stand up and be counted? Help us ensure our state and federal lawmakers understand just how many of their constituents are credit union members. It takes just a few minutes and no personal data is ever collected.

PZC is a constituent matching program that connects credit union members with their state and federal lawmakers. As a result, we’re able to illustrate to elected officials the number of credit union members in their district, which is an extremely powerful advocacy tool.

No personal data or individual information leaves your computer. PZC receives only the counts of records successfully matched. All of your data remains confidential and secure and Project Zip Code is compliant to the privacy laws created in Gramm Leach Bliley.

For more information contact Chris Abeel, the League’s director of government affairs at 800.792.8861, ext 127 or cabeel@njcul.org.

ARE YOU CONNECTED?
The League’s bi-monthly government affairs newsletter, Capitol Connections, keeps readers “plugged-in” to the public policy arena. It includes briefings on important goings-on in Washington (On-the-Hill) and Trenton (Under-the-Dome), has sections on credit union movement grassroots activities (In-the-Trenches) and key issues (On-the-Soapbox), as well as backgrounders on who’s who (Meet-the-Players), interesting facts (Trivia-not-Trivial) and important calendar items (Save-the-Date).

If you’re not already “plugged-in”, contact Chris Abeel, the League’s director of government affairs, to be added to the Capitol Connections electronic distribution list.

CREDIT UNION CAREERS
Whether you are looking to fill a position at your credit union or looking for future employment, as a league member, it’s easy! Click here to see current vacancies: http://www.njcul.org/careers/index.asp#NJ