LAKE BLUFF, Ill. — Card Analysis Solutions is celebrating a significant milestone: Signing up more than 100 credit union clients as of the first quarter of 2008.

"This is a very exciting milestone, and I am most appreciative to each and every one of the clients that put their confidence in my background and knowledge," stated Ondine Irving, a 23-year credit union veteran, who started Card Analysis Solutions in 2004. "I realized in 2004 that someone had to do something about the sudden onslaught of credit unions selling their credit card portfolios. There was little assistance provided at the time dedicated to objectively and independently evaluating the operational aspects of credit card programs and discover opportunities to increase net income and decrease operating expenses, often unveiling a different perspective of the fate of the credit card program for the credit union."

Irving said she realized what was needed was an in-depth and personal approach to the card challenges facing credit unions, one that looked at not merely what they were doing but what could they do differently to both diminish the costs of their program and increase their revenue. Credit union leaders have credited her work as having played an important role in helping their credit unions turn what had been a lackluster asset into a higher performing asset.