ELGIN, Ill. — Six credit unions so far have adopted a new call-back feature from their electronic lending provider, Lending Solutions Inc., the company said.
The new WebReach service is an optional feature for users of LSI's Internet lending service and calls for an LSI representative to contact people who request a call back with a decision on their loan application.
Attempts also are made to build loans for rejected applications and to cross sell other credit union products for approved applicants, the company said.
“The WebReach program is designed to help our clients close more loans and build deeper relationships with members through real-time service and personal attentiveness,” said LSI President Lee Kolquist.
“This immediate call back can make all the difference between closing the loan or losing it to a competitive institution,” he said.
LSI has been processing loan applications by phone and over the Internet for 13 years and now provides 24/7 call center lending and member service to more than 300 credit unions, the company said.

Core Platform Upgraded
At CU*NorthWest

LIBERTY LAKE, Wash. — CU*NorthWest has upgraded the core processing suite the CUSO now has in place at 14 credit unions.
The CU*BASE GOLD solution offers improved “look and feel,” full support for Windows Vista operating system, an expanded scripting engine and enhanced support for SSL communications, the CUSO said. It also now uses PC integration programs written in a Microsoft .NET language actively supported by Microsoft.
The upgrade was executed at no cost, the company said.
“While other vendors are releasing new GUI [graphical user interface] versions of their products at a cost to their clients, our CUSO network once again punctuates the difference in our model with increased value without increased cost,” said CU*NorthWest President/CEO Greg Smith.
CU*NorthWest was founded in 2005 and now has 10 owners, CU*BASE creator CU*Answers in Grand Rapids, Mich., and the following credit unions: Spokane Firefighters CU, Spokane Medical Federal CU, Amicus FCU, The Union CU, CALCOE FCU, United Advantage FCU, Blue Mountain CU, Spokane Law Enforcement CU and Eastside CU.

Affinion Doubles
Card Protection Clients

NORWALK, Conn. — In the past five months Affinion Security Center has increased its Card Patrol clients by 100%.
Over 200 financial institutions in the U.S. and Canada use Card Patrol to offer account holders protection against identity theft. In July, Affinion had announced that they 100 financial institutions offering Card Patrol.
“The rapid growth of this program indicates consumers' increased attention to the threat of identity theft, the link to personal finance and consumers' reliance on trusted financial partners to provide them with reliable solutions,” said Tom Rusin, Affinion CEO.
Card Patrol monitors chat rooms used by thieves to buy and sell debit and credit card numbers. Account holders can register up to 10 account numbers and receive instant notification if suspicious activity occurs with any of their debit or credit card numbers. Account holders are also notified when their information appears online or in chat rooms.

S&P Downgrades Seven
Corporate Credit Unions

NEW YORK — Standard & Poor's downgraded the short-term ratings on seven of the 10 corporates it rates on Jan. 8, knocking Corporate Central CU, Corporate One FCU, Constitution Corporate FCU, Members United Corporate FCU, Southeast Corporate FCU, Southwest Corporate FCU and Western Corporate FCU all down a notch, from A-1+ to A-1.
Central Corporate CU and Eastern Corporate FCU had their A-1+ ratings affirmed because they have “stuck closest to the original low-risk corporate model,” and as a result, have been least affected by the credit crisis, wrote Robert Hoban Jr. in the agency's full report.
Like other ratings analysts, Hoban slammed the growth initiatives undertaken by the larger corporates, and said “the impact of the longer term structural changes to the industry on the corporates' franchises” have weakened their creditworthiness.
“The rated corporates increasingly diverged in their strategies and financial management the past few years and this has resulted in divergent risk profiles and exposures,” Hoban wrote.
He also said that although the cooperative nature of credit unions suggests members will continue to support corporates; however, “the effect of the corporates' former strategy of competing for members has increased the investment and funding options for the natural person credit unions, and we believe this has weakened the corporates' formerly rock-solid franchise.” S&P will continue to monitor member support closely, particularly deposit flows, saying they are a critical ratings factor.
S&P has not yet completed its review of U.S. Central FCU; it is expected to be released in a few weeks.

League's MBL Exchange
Is Off to Strong Start

HARRISBURG, Pa. — The Pennsylvania Credit Union Association's business loan exchange, Credit Union Loan Trader, is off and running.
The association said four member business loans totaling $411,643 were transacted through Credit Union Loan Trader, which lists loans available for purchase by industry type, type and location of collateral, and other factors, according to the association. Buyers may shop for participation loans fitting their own lending criteria.
The exchange took place between the $152 million AmeriChoice Federal Credit Union, which listed the loans, and were bought by the $57 million SPE FCU. With yields ranging from 6.10% to 7.10%, the loans were secured by real estate, according to PCUA.
The association is in the process of securing a trademark for the service. A free tutorial of Credit Union Loan Trader is available on PCUA's Web site www.pcua.coop.

Broker-Dealer Job Cuts
Won't Affect CUs

BOSTON — LPL Financial Corp. said its 10% staff reduction will not affect the division that serves credit unions.
With $233 billion in assets under management, 3,000 employees and more than 11,000 financial advisors, LPL is considered to be the largest independent broker-dealer in the country. The company's LPL Financial Institution Services division serves 225 credit unions. LPL Financial spokesman Joseph Kuo told Credit Union Times that the company's workforce reduction will not impact credit unions.
“Given our longstanding market leadership, we believe it is incumbent on us to position LPL Financial for continued financial resilience by taking certain proactive steps at this time, one of which is a reduction of the company's total workforce by approximately 10%,” the broker-dealer said in a statement.
LPL Financial said it is “on a solid footing operationally and financially” and “has also taken steps to preserve resources that will help the company to maintain its standards of frontline service excellence.”
LPL Financial bought CU-owned broker-dealer XCU Capital Corp. in August 2007.

West Mich. CUSO Offers
Ownership Opportunity

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — For a cool $13,500, your credit union can be part-owner of a CUSO that provides an array of back-office services to more than 100 credit unions.
The board of Xtend Inc. decided at its recent board meeting to continue its $13,500 stock pricing for the rest of 2009.
Xtend was founded in 2002 and its ownership has grown to include 44 credit unions and its own founding CUSO, CU*Answers.
The 2009 stock price was established after the audited 2008 financials were accepted.
“Although our final 2008 results reflected a modest earnings decline due to developing our new call center, we felt it was important that our 2009 offering price remain consistent,” said the CUSO's board chairman, Glenn Kretchmer.
“We believe this not only respects the investments of our existing owners, but also reflects a great value for the opportunity to invest in a growing business,” said Kretchmer, who's also chief operations officer of one of the CUSO's owners, $10 million ATL Credit Union in Wyoming, Mich.
Xtend's offerings include member contact, back-office mortgage and insurance services, shared branching, compliance monitoring and partnered liquidity opportunities.
“At Xtend, we believe that our one-owner, one-vote charter makes us an attractive partner for credit unions of all sizes. We have seen revenue growth exceeding 40% during each of the past two annuals and look forward to continued success in the years to come,” said Xtend President Scott Collins.