The State Employees Credit Union says it is changing the way it handles some pay-at-the-pump transactions involving SECU Visa Debit and Cash Points Global card payments made at the gas pump. [2/1/11 update: More info in today's Road Worrier column and in answers posted with comments below.]

If, like me, you

(1) are a member of the mostly terrific SECU, and

(2) regard pay-at-the-pump as the best thing to happen at gas stations since they started making you wipe your own windshield,

then you should pay attention to a confusing change that takes effect Tuesday, Feb. 1. It used to be that there was not much practical difference between the CREDIT and DEBIT options. Now there is.  ... [MORE]

The IRS and various local organizations will kick off tax season on Friday with free tax preparation assistance as part of National Earned Income Tax Credit Awareness Day.

The IRS is trying to encourage more taxpayers who earned less than $49,000 last year to take advantage of the tax credit worth up to $5,666. The IRS estimates that up to 25 percent of eligible taxpayers aren't aware of the credit.

Qualified taxpayers who visit an IRS-sponsored assistance site also can have their returns filed electronically and get refunds within a couple of weeks.

On Friday, the Family Resource Center of Raleigh will hold a free tax-preparation event from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 220 Swinburne St.

There also will be free services for qualifying taxpayers at locations in Zebulon, Wake Forest and Fuquay-Varina. The sites also will provide free assistance through the April 18 filing deadline. More information is available here.

The State Employees’ Credit Union announced today that its charitable foundation will give $4 million towards the construction of a new environmental science center in downtown Raleigh.

The grant, the largest ever given by the SECU Foundation, will be used to construct the SECU Daily Planet, a state-of-the-art multimedia presentation area that will be the centerpiece of the planned Nature Research Center.

The research center is part of the Green Square Project, a complex of eco-friendly buildings now under construction in downtown Raleigh.

The Green Square Project, estimated at more than $100 million, is scheduled to be completed in 2011. In addition to the environmental science center, it includes a building for the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

A new media campaign that aims to help North Carolina homeowners who face possible foreclosure is set to launch later this month.

The "Fight NC Foreclosure" campaign will include a series of public service announcements that will air on WRAZ/Fox 50  through December, according
to the State Employees' Credit Union. The credit union has teamed up with the N.C. Commissioner of Banks, the Center for Responsible Lending and Capital Broadcasting on the campaign.

The public service spots will tell homeowners facing foreclosure
where they can go to for help, according to the credit union. It also will shine a spotlight on the State Home Foreclosure Prevention Project, a state program that has helped more than 1,000 homeowners in North Carolina avoid foreclosure since it began in November.