MembersResources.com forms CUSO

MILFORD, Conn. - In a move that Members Resources.com CEO Mark Sessel points to as proof of the company's commitment to serving only credit unions' portal needs, the company has formed a CUSO. "We wanted to give credit unions a voice in the direction and policymaking of the company. We've established the CUSO for credit unions or other CUSOs to make an equity investment into the CUSO that buys them a piece of MembersResources.com," said Sessel. In return for CU or CUSO investments in Members Resources.com CUSO, the CUSO buys shares of MembersResources.com. "The CUSO will start to acquire pieces of the company. As the company grows in value, the stake the CUSO holds becomes more valuable," said Sessel. Two seats of the MembersResources.com board will be occupied by investors in the CUSO. Sessel said $100,000 will be the minimum initial investment into MembersResources.com CUSO. Sessel said the CUSO move helps highlight a differentiator between MembersResources. com and other portal providers. "Everyone is looking for differentiators. What we've seen as the real differentiator is that the other portals are not really focused on the credit union movement. Some of the new ones like Portana are teaming up with banking concerns," said Sessel. MembersResources.com, cavion.com and Credit Union Village are among only a handful of players focusing solely on credit unions, he said. Sessel admitted that credit unions may have a tough time sifting through all the portal offerings, and said that while not all the portal providers can survive, there is room for two or three in the industry. MembersResources.com currently has 60 credit union clients representing over one million members. MembersResources.com recently announced that it can now provide ISP service to members. -pgentile@cutimes.com