Briefcase

STCU branches to close for system upgrade

Spokane Teachers Credit Union will close its branches Friday to complete a computer system upgrade three years in the planning.

The credit union’s 94,000 members will be able to use its ATMs, and their STCU CheckCards and Visa credit cards despite the branch closures. Paycheck direct-deposit will remain operational as well.

Online, mobile and telephone banking services, with a few exceptions, will be unavailable through Sunday.

The new computer system, PhoenixEFE, goes live Monday.

The existing IBM system dates to 1985.

Bert Caldwell

Feds, AGs discuss foreclosures with banks

WASHINGTON – State attorneys general and federal officials held an all-day negotiating session Wednesday on the nation’s foreclosure crisis with five of the nation’s largest banks in an effort to keep more Americans in their homes.

The Justice Department is spearheading a coordinated law enforcement effort to ensure that large mortgage services work with borrowers to find alternatives to foreclosure. The five banks participating in Wednesday’s talks were Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Citibank, Chase and GMAC.

Federal investigators and the offices of state attorneys general have been looking into the filing of false affidavits in foreclosures and the practice of financial institution employees engaging in robo-signing, that is, approving documents in foreclosures without reading them.

Associated Press

Hershey hikes wholesale chocolate prices

HERSHEY, Pa. – Chocolate is soon going to cost more green.

The Hershey Co. is raising wholesale prices by 9.7 percent, because its own costs have risen.

The candy maker says the price increase takes effect immediately.

Consumers may not see the impact on store shelves right away, because many retailers will be able to buy products at the old prices for about eight weeks.

Associated Press

Fed rejects offer for AIG mortgage bonds

WASHINGTON – The Federal Reserve Bank of New York has turned down an offer by American International Group to repurchase dodgy mortgage bonds that the Fed had taken off the insurance company’s hands during the financial crisis.

AIG had offered $15.7 billion for the bonds. The Fed thinks it can do better by getting bids on the bonds over time.

The government had bailed out AIG in 2008, extending lifelines worth $182 billion. At the time, the Fed also took over a portfolio of soured mortgage bonds that AIG had held.

Associated Press