Southwest Lending Conference to Examine Lending Practices and Trends

FORT WORTH, Texas – Risk-based lending. Small business lending. Indirect lending. Credit card risk assessment. Future trends. These are among the many topics that will be explored at the Texas Credit Union Lending Council's first-ever Southwest Lending conference May 4-6 at the Doral Hotel & Resort here. Other topics to be covered during the three-day conference include multi-channel lending, business development, automated decisioning, efficient origination, mortgage lending, bringing in borrowers who go elsewhere, and emerging legal issues. "While other lending conferences are available to credit unions, our goal was to make this extremely informative, and yet, also affordable. We want mid- to small-size credit unions to be able to participate along with the large credit unions," said Suzanne Thompson, assistant vice president of Credit Union Lending Resources. Credit unions in Texas, Arkansas, Kansas and Oklahoma were informed of the Conference through their state leagues, but the conference is open to any interested credit union, according to Thompson. "We have a great line-up of speakers," Thompson said. "They cover a broad spectrum of issues, so everyone will find this conference meaningful." Jina Johnson of the CUNA Mutual Group and Jane Grace of Securian Financial Network will keynote the opening general session, addressing the importance of accepting and embracing new business perspectives. In the closing general session, Brett Christensen of Lending Solutions will explore the pros and cons of incentive programs and share five proven strategies to help attendees boost their lending programs. Other expected speakers are Mark Spenny, vice president of mortgage and business services at Citizens Equity First CU in Peoria, Illinois who will present "Business Services: Beyond the Basics," Patelco Credit Union's Chris Oldag will share practical experience in establishing a profitable risk-based lending; Dr. Charles Idol, who has been involved in the credit union movement for nearly 30 years, will present "Economic/Rate Outlook for the Second Half of 2003 and Current Credit Union Asset Liability Management (ALM) Issues." The Texas Credit Union Lending Council is an organization of League-affiliated credit union lending professionals with the purpose of sharing best practices, making new contacts and building relationships with those who face similar challenges. Conference registration is $345 for Lending Council members and $395 for non-members.