PORTLAND, Ore. and SAN DIEGO - Five years after opening its doors for business and building a direct lending presence with 700 dealerships and 116 credit unions in California, Nevada and Oregon, CU Direct Lending has expanded its visibility in southern California and the Oregon markets. Mission FCU-the second largest credit union in San Diego County-and Portland Teachers CU-the largest CU in Oregon-have joined the Credit Union Direct LendingT program. Mission FCU is the third credit union in San Diego County-and the largest in the county so far-to sign on to the CU Direct Lending system. MFCU has $916 million in assets, 23 branches in San Diego County and provides services to nearly 121,000 members in the educational community. John Parsons of MFCU said the credit union envisioned its members going to a dealer to buy a vehicle and decided that because "we want them to have convenience at any level of acquisition and financing they choose, including car sales. After examining CU Direct Lending's dealer screening process and infrastructure, we're certain our members will be able to get a good credit union-deal at the dealerships." Mission FCU went live with CU Direct Lending last month. Portland Teachers CU is scheduled to go live with the system in May. With nearly $957 million in assets and more than 130,000 members, Portland Teachers CU is the seventh credit union in Oregon to become part of the CU Direct Lending system. According to Kristie Nockleby, vice president of marketing, PTCU, credit unions account for less than 1% of auto loans processed in the state. "We're losing auto lending opportunities to the dealerships," she said. "The dealers are chasing members' auto financing and we're losing out because we don't have a presence in those dealerships. "With CU Direct Lending, we have a chance of getting the member's loan," she added. Not only are Portland Teachers CU's members excited about the new program, area dealers are also looking forward to it. Nockleby said since the credit union began speaking to dealers and alerting them to the service, PTCU has been approached by many of them inquiring about advertising on the credit union's Web site. "It's a winning product for everyone," she said. Credit Union Direct Lending funds about $160 million a month in loans. "This kind of lending is really a relationship building game," said Tony Boutelle, CEO, CU Direct Corp. and senior vice president, business services for the California Credit Union League. "It requires there be a relationship between the credit union and the dealer and the member and the dealer. It's an interesting process." Now that state-chartered credit unions in Massachusetts are able to offer indirect lending to their members, Credit Union Direct Lending plans to open its first east coast office in the Massachusetts Credit Union League's offices in Southbrough in the coming months. The company has hired two staff to work there. -
ekingoff@cutimes.com
