Notes, news and views on community banking

Credit union acquires mortgage servicing rights from Wis. bank. Royal Credit Union, Eau Claire, Wis., and The RiverBank, Osceola, Wis., have entered into an agreement for RCU to acquire the servicing rights of The RiverBanks' mortgage loans totaling $600 million. The transaction, which took place Oct. 14, sends 4,200 mortgage loan customers to RCU. . "We have now come to a turning point in our business model that we need to make a change," The RiverBank said in a letter to customers. "Realizing the importance of the local servicing, we have partnered with Royal Credit Union to transition the servicing." The transfer of the servicing of the mortgage loans does not affect any term or condition of the mortgages. . "We welcome these 4,200 mortgage customers to RCU," said Charles Grossklaus, CEO of RCU. "Our commitment to staying local is strong and, consistent with our vision to satisfy all of our members' financial needs; we look forward to building relationships with these members so we can be there when they need their next financial product.". Royal Credit Union is a federally insured credit union serving more than 135,000 members with 22 offices in Wisconsin and three offices in Minnesota. RCU membership is open to residents in 18 western Wisconsin counties, 12 Minnesota counties in the Twin Cities area, and to realtors in Wisconsin and Minnesota. .North Dakota banks merge. Two long-standing North Dakota community banks, Security State Bank of Dunseith and Starion Financial, headquartered in Bismarck-Mandan, have merged. Security State Bank became part of Starion Financial on Oct. 11.. With the merger, Starion Financial adds three former Security State Bank locations in Dunseith, Bottineau and Rolla. Starion Financial now has 13 offices in North Dakota and Middleton, Wis.. "We are very excited to be able to offer our expanded line of services to the people and businesses of Dunseith, Bottineau and Rolla, while maintaining the high level of customer service they have come to expect from their community bank," said Craig Larson, president and chief executive officer of Starion Financial.. Starion Financial signed a purchase agreement in June and the N.D. Department of Financial Institutions and FDIC approved the deal at a Sept. 8 meeting. Existing customers were converted to the Starion Financial bank system over the weekend Oct. 8 through 10.. Security State Bank had been owned by the Campbell family who wished for the bank to grow in its service offerings and ability to fuel economic growth in its communities.. The scale of Starion Financial promises new capabilities and new services for customers. The bank has higher lending limits that will allow for major financing projects to be kept within the communities.. Former Security State Bank President Jeff Campbell will continue to provide leadership as market president, and the employees of Security State Bank will join with the 205 employees of Starion Financial.. "Security State Bank and Starion Financial are both family-owned banks driven by strong family and community values," Larson said. "We're fortunate to have Jeff and his staff join our team. They bring a wealth of banking knowledge and have helped make this a smooth transition.". Starion Financial is an $850 million family-owned community bank and financial services organization. The company began in Oakes, N.D., in 1969 and has 13 locations throughout Bismarck-Mandan, Bottineau, Dunseith, Rolla, Oakes, Ellendale, and Fargo, N.D., and Middleton, Wis. .Wisconsin financial literacy council hosts summit. The Wisconsin Governor's Council on Financial Literacy hosted its first-ever state summit on financial literacy on Oct. 14 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay. More than 180 educators and financial experts were expected to attend and participate in a variety of workshops and seminars.. "The Governor's Council on Financial Literacy is committed to elevating the level of financial literacy among Wisconsin residents," said Peter Bildsten, Secretary of the Department of Financial Institutions and co-vice chair of the council.. Bildsten said a highlight of the summit will be the unveiling of the Wisconsin Financial Literacy Award, which was created to recognize individuals and organizations for excellence in increasing financial literacy among Wisconsin citizens. Nominations for the award must be submitted by Dec. 1 and may be directed to David Mancl or Teresa Walker at DFI, (608-264-7800).. Summit presenters came from the Chicago Federal Reserve Bank, the Department of Financial Institutions, Economics Wisconsin, Lakeland College, Edgewood College, the Appleton Area School District, the Department of Public Instruction, the Wisconsin Educational Communications Board, and the various University of Wisconsin campuses.. The Council on Financial Literacy was formed earlier this year by Gov. Scott Walker. The council's mission is to measurably improve the financial literacy of Wisconsin's citizens. The 25-member body includes individuals from higher education, non-profits, business, government and academia. .Minnesota regulator launches revamped web site. The Minnesota Department of Commerce launched a newly redesigned, user-friendly web site. The new site, located at http://mn.gov/commerce/, is designed to provide easier access to information and deliver better service.. "Improving our department's communication and consumer outreach efforts is one of my priorities," said Commerce Commissioner Mike Rothman. "It is more important than ever to provide Minnesota consumers and businesses access to helpful tools and information they need to make informed decisions in a complex marketplace. This new web site is an integral part of that effort.". To provide easier, more direct access to information, the new web site features one main Commerce Department site, and four division-specific sites. Those sites provide information and resources for four major divisions within the department: Energy, Banking and Finance, Weights and Measures, and Insurance.. New web site features include the ability of users to search for content by topic or audience, home page icons, and a "How Do I Find" list to make it easier to find the most popular content. .GSB's HR school moves to spring. The Graduate School of Banking's Human Resource Management School is moving to spring, rather than taking place concurrently with the GSB Madison, Wis.-session in August. It will be offered April 15-20, 2012, in Madison. The change is in response to student requests and will also provide scheduling flexibility for faculty who teach in both programs.. And the HR Management School will be offered via live webcast for those who wish to participate remotely. Those who choose the online option will have access to live, streaming video and audio each day and the ability to interact with other students and the faculty.. Scholarships are available specifically for the HR Management School and pay roughly one-third of the tuition. For details on scholarships, please visitwww.gsb.org/scholarships.htm.