Op-Ed Letter to the Huntsville Times

Below is the text of a Op-Ed submitted to the Huntsville Times on the interchange fee debate. It has not been published as of this date.

There is an intense debate between financial institutions and retailers over the cost of interchange fee rates paid when a consumer uses their credit or debit card. Retailers think that the cost per transaction is too high. The Federal Reserve has formulated a flat 12 cents per transaction fee that would be paid by the retailer to the financial institution. Currently, the interchange rate fee varies between 1-2 percent of the transaction amount with the average interchange fee costing 42 cents.

The Federal Reserve did not calculate the overall costs of a credit or debit card program, it just computed what the electronic cost was to receive, authorize, and settle the one-time card transaction. The problem with this approach is that the major costs of operating a card program are not being considered. Data processing, 24-hour fraud prevention and detection, personnel, licensing, compliance, and a major expense – fraud, were all costs ignored by the Federal Reserve in computing the flat rate of 12 cents per transaction.

Here’s an example of what the Fed is not taking into consideration: A $2,000 stolen debit card is used at a major retailer to buy a big screen television. Who pays the fraud? Often times the retailer never looks at the card being used. That’s because they are not responsible for the theft amount. The financial institution is left holding the bag for covering the amount of the loss once the unauthorized card transaction is reported. How many 12-cent transactions does it take to cover that $2,000 loss realized by the financial institution? Card fraud occurs every year and retailers pay very little, if any, of the cost.

If the 12-cent flat rate interchange fee is implemented, consumers can expect to see caps placed on purchase amounts to reduce the increased fraud loss exposure. Some have suggested caps of $250 or less on debit and credit card transactions. That major retailer can then enjoy the risks of accepting a $2,000 personal check for that big screen television.

House Bill H.R. 1081 and Senate Bill S. 575 have been introduced by Congress to delay the proposed changes to interchange rates and allow a study to realistically consider the impact on financial institutions and consumers. Financial institutions are hopeful that any changes are done only after a careful analysis of the impact of such legislation is completed. Consumers have shown they want to use debit cards; so let’s not rush to a set price that will ultimately hurt the consumer.

Sincerely,

Greg Olmsted, President/CEO

North Alabama Educators Credit Union

Financial Institutions versus Retailers

Previous posts have discussed the ongoing feud between financial institutions and retailers over the issue of interchange fees. An interchange fee is a fee paid by merchants when they accept a debit or credit card for payment of a purchase. The merchants now pay a percentage between 1 and 2 percent of the transaction amount depending upon the product or service. The Federal Reserve is now proposing to set a flat rate of $0.12 per transaction on all debit and credit card transactions.

The retailers say that they will pass along the savings from the reduced interchange rates back to the consumers through lower prices of their products and services. This may or may not occur in the short term following the pricing change, but will the savings still be there 5 years down the road when no one is talking about interchange rates anymore?

Institutions will lose revenue if this Federal Reserve proposal is implemented. There is no doubt about that. Our existing card program costs (that were not considered by the Federal Reserve) such as fraud, personnel, data processing, licensing fees, compliance, and 24-hour monitoring will still be there. Additional fees would have to be implemented on checking accounts and credit cards to make up the lost revenue.

Credit unions are urging Congress to step back and conduct a compete analysis of all costs associated with maintaining a debit and credit card program. There should be an economic impact review of this Federal Reserve proposal. It may be time for changes in the interchange fee structure, but the process used to calculate the proposed $0.12 flat rate is flawed and will cause more harm than good to consumers.

Scale Back Auto Loan Sale - as low as 2.99% APR

How does a fixed rate as low as 2.99% Annual Percentage Rate (APR) on terms as long as 60 months sound?? Our "Scale Back Auto Loan Sale" going on now through April 30th offers this great loan rate for new AND used automobiles financed during the promotion. The loans themselves can be for purchases or refinances from another financial institution. Qualified members can also delay their first loan payment up to 90 days. Wouldn't be nice to not have a car payment for a few months? That money could be used to pay down other debt, pay for a special project, or just provide a little money for a Spring Break trip. It is important to note here that loan interest would accrue during the loan deferment time frame.

The theme of the loan promotion is similar to the "Scale Back Alabama" weight loss campaign in that cutting your costs is a smart idea. We have money to lend so if you are going to borrow money make sure that your costs are minimized. Weigh your options, trim your budget, and lose high interest rates with a low cost loan from North Alabama Educators Credit Union!

As with all loans at the credit union, we are an Equal Credit Opportunity Lender. Qualifications must be met on all loans. Your actual loan interest rate will be determined by your credit worthiness as well as other factors, such as the term length of your loan. For a 60-month term as referenced above, the payments would be as low as $18.00 per $1,000 borrowed. Please keep in mind that well qualified borrowers with a credit score of 748 and over can actually receive a lower loan rate than advertised above. To refinance a loan already financed with NAECU, an additional $2,500 must be added to the existing balance to qualify for the reduced rate.

Visit our web site at www.naecu.org for rates and terms available.

$10,000 Donation to American Cancer Society

North Alabama Educators Credit Union presented a $10,000 check to the American Cancer Society for the benefit of breast cancer awareness in the Tennessee Valley. The donation was given during our 55th Annual Membership Meeting that was held on Monday, February 7th. Liz Payne of the American Cancer Society (pictured above) was presented the check.

Many thanks are extended to our employees and members who have participated in the many fundraiser ideas throughout the year. These fundraiser ideas ranged from a bass fishing tournament, group yard sale, jewelry party, pictures with Santa, pictures with the Easter Bunny, a DIRECTV drawing, Alabama and Auburn gift basket drawings, and breast cancer awareness merchandise sales. Our employees have generated many creative ideas over the years for these fundraiser events. Good job by the employees and members of NAECU!!

Caller ID Spoofing

The Better Business Bureau of North Alabama is warning residents about Caller ID Spoofing cases taking place in the Tennessee Valley. The purpose of the calls may vary but the troubling issue is that the number appearing on the consumer's caller ID appears to be a local number - in fact in many cases the number is only one digit away from their own number. It might even be the local number for the hospital, fire department, or the credit union.

In reality, the caller is using technology to alter the information that appears on a call recipient's Caller ID display - a practice known as Caller ID Spoofing. The recipient of the calls reads their caller ID display and sees a familiar number or local number and chooses to answers the call.

Consumers are advised to be aware of Caller ID Spoofing technology and understand that the caller's number displayed may not always be the true origin of the call. Some of these spoofing attempts are trying to sell services but others are outright scams designed to trick people into providing personal information. ID theft is one purpose of these type of calls.

Never give out any personal information to a company or individual unless you know with 100% certainty of who you are dealing with. If you receive a call that claims to be from a trusted source, like the credit union, you should not be asked to provide any personal information. If you receive any suspicious calls you should contact the associated organization using a known published telephone number to verify the nature of the initial call.

There have been cases of Caller ID Spoofing where the caller spoofed a local financial institution's name and telephone number. Trust but verify is the best policy!

Alabama Securities Commission

It was a pleasure to listen to Joseph P. Borg, Director of the Alabama Securities Commission (ASC), speak at a luncheon meeting earlier today. Various investment fraud examples were discussed as well as a need for general investor educational resources. The current economic environment is almost a perfect storm for fraudsters. You have very low yields on traditional investments so investors are looking to earn a higher yield on their liquid cash. The volatile markets of real estate, rising oil prices, and rising gold prices have also created opportunities for investment fraud in these areas. This does not mean that investments in these areas are a bad choice, just that scammers use the headlines to sell legitimacy and to gain trust.

Investments that offer very high yields should always be reviewed and researched very closely. How many times have we heard "if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is". One of the fraud examples given during the presentation offered investors a doubling of their investment within 18 months. This simply is not realistic and sure enough the investors lost all of their investment dollars. Do not allow the lure of a high yield prospect to cloud good financial judgement.

The ASC website has valuable resources, investor alerts, and links to help educate investors in making a sound financial investment. Here is their website - http://www.asc.state.al.us/index.htm . Check it out!

Electronic Pickpocketing

A few members have contacted the credit union about national news media stories on the issue of "electronic pickpocketing" and concerns over data theft. For those who have not heard about electronic pickpocketing, it is basically theft of data from a plastic card that possesses a RFID (radio frequency identification) chip. The RFID chip sends out a short wave radio signal so that merchant readers can receive the signal and authorize transactions on the card without the need for a physical swipe of the card. Scammers have realized that a cheap portable card reader could be used to obtain someones card information while the card is still secured in the person's wallet or purse. In a crowded mall or shopping area, someone could be standing within a few feet and electronically obtain some of the card information. There are a multitude of videos online that demonstrate this type of data theft. The card number and expiration dates can be stolen with this type of technology.

North Alabama Educators Credit Union does not utilize RFID chips with our VISA Debit Cards. The VISA Credit Cards issued through our partner Elan also do not utilize RFID technology. As a result, there is no threat of data theft from electronic pickpocketing on our member cards.

It is important to note that the 3-digit security code on the back of cards cannot be obtained via electronic pickpocketing. The majority of Internet transactions with a credit or debit card would require the correct 3-digit security code to complete a transaction. For those who do possess cards with an RFID chip there are special protective card sleeves available that would block transmission of the short wave signal.

Regardless, it is still unnerving to say the least that someone could electronically steal card information from your wallet or purse just by standing close by.

Again, North Alabama Educators Credit Union does NOT utilize RFID technology for either our debit or credit cards.