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

Core Platform Upgraded
At CU*NorthWest

LIBERTY LAKE, Wash. — CU*NorthWest has upgraded the coreprocessing suite the CUSO now has in place at 14 creditunions.
The CU*BASE GOLD solution offers improved “look and feel,” fullsupport for Windows Vista operating system, an expanded scriptingengine 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 userinterface] versions of their products at a cost to their clients,our CUSO network once again punctuates the difference in our modelwith increased value without increased cost,” said CU*NorthWestPresident/CEO Greg Smith.
CU*NorthWest was founded in 2005 and now has 10 owners, CU*BASEcreator CU*Answers in Grand Rapids, Mich., and the following creditunions: Spokane Firefighters CU, Spokane Medical Federal CU, AmicusFCU, The Union CU, CALCOE FCU, United Advantage FCU, Blue MountainCU, Spokane Law Enforcement CU and Eastside CU.

Affinion Doubles
Card Protection Clients

NORWALK, Conn. — In the past five months Affinion SecurityCenter has increased its Card Patrol clients by 100%.
Over 200 financial institutions in the U.S. and Canada use CardPatrol to offer account holders protection against identity theft.In July, Affinion had announced that they 100 financialinstitutions offering Card Patrol.
“The rapid growth of this program indicates consumers' increasedattention to the threat of identity theft, the link to personalfinance and consumers' reliance on trusted financial partners toprovide them with reliable solutions,” said Tom Rusin, AffinionCEO.
Card Patrol monitors chat rooms used by thieves to buy and selldebit and credit card numbers. Account holders can register up to10 account numbers and receive instant notification if suspiciousactivity occurs with any of their debit or credit card numbers.Account holders are also notified when their information appearsonline or in chat rooms.

S&P Downgrades Seven
Corporate Credit Unions

NEW YORK — Standard & Poor's downgraded the short-termratings on seven of the 10 corporates it rates on Jan. 8, knockingCorporate Central CU, Corporate One FCU, Constitution CorporateFCU, 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 originallow-risk corporate model,” and as a result, have been leastaffected by the credit crisis, wrote Robert Hoban Jr. in theagency's full report.
Like other ratings analysts, Hoban slammed the growth initiativesundertaken by the larger corporates, and said “the impact of thelonger term structural changes to the industry on the corporates'franchises” have weakened their creditworthiness.
“The rated corporates increasingly diverged in their strategies andfinancial management the past few years and this has resulted indivergent risk profiles and exposures,” Hoban wrote.
He also said that although the cooperative nature of credit unionssuggests members will continue to support corporates; however, “theeffect of the corporates' former strategy of competing for membershas increased the investment and funding options for the naturalperson credit unions, and we believe this has weakened thecorporates' formerly rock-solid franchise.” S&P will continueto 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 isexpected to be released in a few weeks.

League's MBL Exchange
Is Off to Strong Start

HARRISBURG, Pa. — The Pennsylvania Credit Union Association'sbusiness loan exchange, Credit Union Loan Trader, is off andrunning.
The association said four member business loans totaling $411,643were transacted through Credit Union Loan Trader, which lists loansavailable for purchase by industry type, type and location ofcollateral, and other factors, according to the association. Buyersmay shop for participation loans fitting their own lendingcriteria.
The exchange took place between the $152 million AmeriChoiceFederal Credit Union, which listed the loans, and were bought bythe $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 theservice. A free tutorial of Credit Union Loan Trader is availableon PCUA's Web site www.pcua.coop.

Broker-Dealer Job Cuts
Won't Affect CUs

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

West Mich. CUSO Offers
Ownership Opportunity

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