The housing blues — One Bourbon, One Scotch, and One Beer
I don’t drink, but I’ve enjoyed the classic blues song, “One Bourbon, One Scotch, and One Beer,” for as long as I can remember. In 1977, George Thorogood sang a compelling story about a man who lost his job. Unable to pay his rent and thrown out by his landlady, he tries and fails to […]
Small credit union lenders – kicking ass and taking names
According to CUNA Mutual’s Credit Union Trends Report – December 2021, credit union consumer loan growth peaked at 10.5 percent in 2016. It has decreased annually since then, reaching 5.9 percent in 2021. Drilling down a bit further, the chart below reflects the loan growth challenges smaller credit unions have faced during the past two […]
Credit unions, small businesses and missed opportunities
Having just spent a year on the road (virtually) facilitating strategic planning sessions for dozens of credit unions – I can share that nearly all have two areas of high strategic focus through the next two years: Profitable (organic) loan growth and enhancing their end-to-end remote lending processes. There are several driving forces behind these […]
A new boost for member development
Credit union roots are anchored in the philosophy and action of helping members improve their financial well-being, and they accomplish this in a number of ways. One of the most important has been and continues to be credit-building activities to help members deepen and improve their credit profiles. These credit-building activities include offering small-balance or […]
The anatomy of a successful organic loan-growth strategy
Organic loan growth is a popular phrase these days. Today, an increasing number of credit unions are looking for ways to attract more loans directly. Direct loan growth (vs. indirect) can be more attractive, cutting out the middle man to improve yields, and leveraging direct member contact to increase cross-sells and higher products per member. Direct […]
Consumer Lending
Today’s competitive landscape requires many different loan-growth strategies that range from squeezing a little more from indirect auto channels, to a plan to increase higher-yielding consumer loans. Today’s lenders are always working toward that optimum balance of yield and risk, seeking growth through tighter member relationships, and better market penetration. In a perfect world, we […]
Yep, it’s hard… but what is your alternative?
Our team works with a lot of small and medium-sized credit unions. Our focus is usually on growth and revenue-related strategies, and if you’ve checked your CUNA’s U.S. Credit Union Profile Report, you know that small and mid-sized credit unions are having a more difficult time with growth and revenue. It’s hard Identifying and evaluating […]
Consumer Lending: Leave no stone unturned
Today’s competitive landscape requires many different loan-growth strategies that range from squeezing a little more from indirect auto channels, to a plan to increase higher-yielding consumer loans. Today’s lenders are always working toward that optimum balance of yield and risk, seeking growth through tighter member relationships, and better market penetration. In a perfect world, we […]
A path from financial toxicity to financial equality
Too many consumers are living in financially toxic situations. The low- and moderate-income, credit-challenged, minority, unbanked, and underbanked face the greatest barriers to financial equality. These situations negatively impact quality of life, create barriers to equal access to financial product, and restrict financial development. Credit unions have always been hailed as the consumers champion – people helping […]
The Top 3 Direct Loan Growth Strategies for 2018
The 2017 strategic planning season is ending. During the year, we facilitated dozens of strategic-planning sessions with credit unions of all shapes and sizes: small and large, rural and urban, community and single-sponsor charters. We were exposed to a wide range of unique credit union opportunities and challenges. We also took note of several reoccurring […]
Capitalizing on credit card growth
The opportunities for credit union loan growth haven’t been this good for a very long time. According to the CUNA Mutual March 2017 Trends Report[1] (January 2017 data), overall, credit union loan balances rose 0.9 percent in January (better than the 0.4-percent pace reported in January 2016) and 11.5 percent during the past 12 months. […]
The summer auto-loan pursuit-a-palooza
Another busy summer vehicle-selling season is upon us, and a majority of us are looking for the best strategies to maximize loan growth. Considering the volume of vehicles to be sold, prospects are good. According to NADA (Nov. 2015), “New light-vehicle sales are expected to rise to 17.7 million units in 2016. This would mark the […]
