The nation's largest credit union is a relatively small player in business lending, but a vender announcement Wednesday signaled Navy Federal Credit Union has aspirations to expand its portfolio, focusing on small businesses.

Navy FCU ($83.7 billion in assets, 7.4 million members) said it will use the bank operating system of nCino, a cloud banking software developer based in Wilmington, N.C. Chicago-based West Monroe Partners is expected to complete the installation of the nCino software in April.

Dave Ledwell, Navy FCU's senior vice president for consumer and business lending, said he expects the system will both increase ease of use and speed applications for members, while cutting overall processing costs.

NCUA data shows Navy FCU's Member Business Loans grew 14% to $315.8 million as of Sept. 30 and represented just 0.5% of its total loans. Among all federally insured credit unions, MBLs grew 8% to $62.3 billion, and accounted for 6.6% of loans.

Ledwell said the amount is about $600 million in loans, including participations, and about $800 million in deposits from its more than 100,000 business members. For the year ending Dec. 31, 2017, loan growth was about 25%, and is expected to be at least 20% in 2018.

“We expect growth to continue to be very robust,” he said.

Navy is adding about 1 million members a year, and about 11% to 12% of them already own small businesses. The typical business member has about five to 10 employees and less than $10 million in annual sales. Many are owned by veterans.

“We consider our members – men and women serving in the military, veterans and their families – to be some of the best borrowers of any financial institution,” Ledwell said. “With nCino, our employees can service members with key insights gained on the digital banking platform. We want to provide an experience that is quick, effortless and enjoyable, and we see nCino as being the tool to provide those things and more.”

Convenience is critical for the small businesses Navy serves. One reason Navy chose the platform is that it will allow business owners to complete applications faster and in the odd hours they have available, Ledwell said.

“They're running the business during the day, and coming to us on nights and weekends,” he said. “It will be there when they need us.”

Borrowers will be able to use nCino's member-facing portal to apply for business membership and business loans. Members will be able to track the status of their loan or application in real time.

In addition, the platform's document management system will allow all departments, as well as members, to interact and contribute to the required documentation, even after the loan is booked. Re-entering data will reduced because documents, like a tax return, will be available for future applications.

Borrowers can complete most of the processes on their phones, but a specific mobile app is in the future, Ledwell said.

Instant Insights /

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