Credit unions and community banks have traditionally stood as direct competitors, vying for the attention of similar types of consumers. But in the private student lending market, a fierce face-off between the two is not expected, several experts say.
"As far as competition goes, some existing lenders are scaling back their presence in the market, but new lenders are cropping up all the time," said Greg Jaeger, the private student loan manager for the $4.6 billion, Peoria, Ill.-based Citizens Equity First Credit Union. "It is hard to say how much competition is coming from community banks. In any case, competition among lenders is good for borrowers."
Citizens Equity began offering private student loans through CU Campus Resources, a wholly owned CUSO of the $1.4 billion UW Credit Union of Madison, Wis., in 2011. Jaeger said in the first year of its private student loan program, Citizens Equity exceeded its goals, grabbed the attention of members and nonmembers and is poised to continue growth. As of Dec. 31, 2011, Citizens Equity held 3,680 nonfederally guaranteed student loans totaling $28.3 million, with an interest rate of 0.08%, according to NCUA Call Report data.
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Natasha Chilingerian
Natasha Chilingerian has been immersed in the credit union industry for over a decade. She first joined CU Times in 2011 as a freelance writer, and following a two-year hiatus from 2013-2015, during which time she served as a communications specialist for Xceed Financial Credit Union (now Kinecta Federal Credit Union), she re-joined the CU Times team full-time as managing editor. She was promoted to executive editor in 2019. In the earlier days of her career, Chilingerian focused on news and lifestyle journalism, serving as a writer and editor for numerous regional publications in Oregon, Louisiana, South Carolina and the San Francisco Bay Area. In addition, she holds experience in marketing copywriting for companies in the finance and technology space. At CU Times, she covers People and Community news, cybersecurity, fintech partnerships, marketing, workplace culture, leadership, DEI, branch strategies, digital banking and more. She currently works remotely and splits her time between Southern California and Portland, Ore.
