CU*Online Newsletter
February 2002 

CU*ONLINE is the Web Design & Maintenance division of Alonzi Technical Consulting.
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** '.coop,' web domain now up and running

The ".coop" Internet domain is now open for registrations.

Credit unions and other business cooperatives are rushing to take advantage of this opportunity to secure a new online address. While the .com extension is open to all, only businesses that can certify that they are member-owned can reserve a name with a .coop extension.

Does your credit union need a .coop address? If you're considering it simply to prevent cyber-squatting, don't worry. Only two of my 20 credit union customers have any competition with similar domain names, and in both cases the domain names belonged to other credit unions with similar names.

If you decide to register a new .coop extension, think of this as a chance to differentiate yourself from other credit unions. Use a simple address that might not be available in the .com or .org domain. For example. the El Paso Area Teachers Federal Credit Union registered their new domain at www.teachers.coop. Previously, its Web address was www.epatfcu.org.

If you decide to register a new coop extension, don't assume you want to mirror the same name that's used in your current site. Try to think of a more memorable name!

One final tip: If you register a new extension, don't forget to ask your ISP about domain redirects. Most ISPs will direct all traffic from up to six domain names to one site that you maintain -- for free. That's why you can access CU Companies at both www.cucompanies.com and www.cucompanies.net. It's a great way to redirect traffic from your "old" site to your new!

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** Options for online loan applications

If you use CUNA Mutual's Loanliner.com, you learned this past December that it's no longer free. Due to what CUNA Mutual calls, "some confusion in the notification process of the fee increase," they have extended the no-fee period to March 31, 2002.

The new cost structure is based on asset size, and fees range from $500-$1,800 annually. In addition, there's also a scaleable fee of at least $1,300 annually or a flat $5 per transaction. Although their customers are facing serious sticker shock, Loanliner's new fee schedule is still less expensive (but more comparable) to those of its online banking competitors.

Members love the convenience of applying for a loan online. It speeds up the application process and there are fewer data entry errors. But the price is steep for a small credit union. Do cheaper alternatives exist?

Yes.

I'm currently working with three Internet Service Providers who support secure forms on their servers -- the most expensive ISP charges $60 per month. Note that this is NOT an additional expense; this flat fee also covers the cost of hosting the web site, domain redirects, and email. The only true additional costs to the credit union are in manpower time to set up the online form and to process the applications at the credit union.

Keep in mind that these loan applications aren't scored. However, you CAN customize them to suit your needs. If you have questions about a low-cost online loan application, give me a call today at (952) 829-0819.
- Karen

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** The power of the Internet

Your Web site is every bit as important as any branch office of your Credit Union. If you're still not convinced that the Internet will impact your Credit Union's future, here are two news tidbits to keep in mind.

1. An online computer game has spawned an economy with a per-capita income comparable to that of a small country.

The online fantasy game EverQuest lets players create and control characters within a fantasy world called Norrath. Characters gain skills and possessions that they can then trade with other players within the game. However, many EverQuest players instead sell their assets for real money through eBay.

Edward Castronova, of the economics department at California State University at Fullerton, studied thousands of EverQuest transactions performed through eBay to determine the real-world economic value generated by the inhabitants of Norrath. Castronova discovered that Norrath's gross national product per-capita is $2,266. If Norrath was a country, it would be the 77th most wealthy in the world, just behind Russia.

Castronova's research shows that EverQuest players earn an average of $3.42 for every hour spent playing the game. "Virtual worlds may be the future of e-commerce, and perhaps the internet itself," he says.

Launched in 1999 by Sony, EverQuest is one of the largest role playing games on the internet. According to Sony, the game has 400,000 users in total, with up to 60,000 inhabiting the game at any one time.

2. A group of Vatican elders want to give the Internet a patron saint. If they succeed, you'll have a holy helper with a dedicated connection to the Divine.

The leading candidate is a seventh-century Spanish encyclopedist, Saint Isidore of Seville, who lived in the late sixth century. Isidore was best known for his massive, 20-volume attempt at compiling all the world's knowledge, covering grammar, medicine, law, geography, agriculture, theology, cooking and all points between. Isidore's compendium was a widely used scholarly tool for nearly 1,000 years. So it's no surprise that a church group, the Observation Service for Internet, last year recommended Isidore to become the patron of the most modern of information collections.

(Please note that I didn't even TRY to verify this story. I'd be too disappointed if it was a fraud! Considering all the challenges facing the Internet, a patron saint sounds like a terrific idea to me.)

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