Leaders in Lending

As community-based institutions, credit unions are well positioned to truly understand the unique needs of their members.

With digital platforms and evolving technologies transforming the landscape, credit union leaders have an opportunity to capitalize on the digital wave to grow and better meet the needs of their members - any time and any place.

Yet, navigating this new terrain can be complicated.

In this episode, Jake Darabos, Chief Financial and Administration Officer, and Chuck Eads, Chief Lending Officer, both with Abound Credit Union, join the show to discuss the digital transformation and how to deepen member relationships.

Topics covered:

- Investing in analytics and data to improve conversion

- How to drive consumer loan portfolio growth and obtain new members

- Where consultative conversations fit into a digital world

- Strategy around entering into partnerships with fintechs

Adapted from the webinar “How Credit Union Leaders are Navigating Digital Transformation: Fireside Chat” presented by NAFCU.

To hear more from Leaders in Lending, check us out on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on our website.

Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for Leaders in Lending on your favorite podcast player.

Digital-only banks face a particular challenge:

How do you create that human touch without having the physical human touch?

As a branchless entity, Axos Bank has been tackling this tricky problem for the last 20 years.

Anthony Capizzano, the institution’s SVP of Direct Consumer Lending, joins the show to share the different ways they maintain a high-quality, high-touch relationship with their consumer base.

We discuss:

- The importance of soft touch points in a digital landscape

- Employing product specialists rather than customer service reps

- How electric vehicles are disrupting auto lending

- Upgrading systems incrementally through smaller value-adds

To hear more from Leaders in Lending, check us out on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on our website.

Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for Leaders in Lending on your favorite podcast player.

Cash is up and loan demand is down.One way to navigate this challenge is by driving demand through personalized marketing.

Personalization is especially effective for credit unions. After all, as community-based organizations, they’re most effective when they are interacting with their communities at all times.

Chad Van Handel, Chief Lending Officer at Unison Credit Union, shares why personalization in marketing is so important.

We discuss:

- Transitioning from an agency to in-house marketing

- Community interaction at multiple touchpoints

- Using business lending as an income diversification strategy

- Near-term opportunities for credit unions to expand

To hear more from Leaders in Lending, check us out on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on our website.

Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for Leaders in Lending on your favorite podcast player.

The old paradigm in banking involved developing a product and turning to life-stage marketing to sell that product to customers.

But that paradigm is evolving. Financial Institutions are identifying customer needs and providing solutions regardless of what the product is, rather than hawking a product

In this episode, Ted Krus, Director o f Consumer and Indirect Lending at Flagstar Bank explains the strategy behind taking a product-agnostic approach to product development and customer interaction.

We discuss:

- Why a product-agnostic approach makes sense

- How data is a crucial piece for meeting customer needs

- Focusing on the end-to-end customer experience

- Managing risk and governance groups during the process

Resources mentioned during the podcast:

- “What’s a Digital Lending Ecosystem and Why Should Banks Care?” by Alex Johnson

To hear more from Leaders in Lending, check us out on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on our website.
Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for Leaders in Lending on your favorite podcast player.

Around 15 years ago, non-bank financials had about 20% of the share of mortgage originations. Today, they have over 60% of the share.

Why? It’s because they are 100% focused on the quality of the experience.

That’s exactly what banks need to do to get back in the game.

Matt Cammarota, Head of Retail Lending at Liberty Bank in Connecticut, joins the show to discuss why process transformation, in an effort to improve the customer experience, is vital to success in retail lending.

We discuss:

- Strategies for navigating the decline in HELOC balances

- Building a culture that puts the consumer and the institution first

- Transforming the retail lending processes

- Making investments in technology to enable different processes

Want more lending advice? Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and here. 

Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for Leaders in Lending in your favorite podcast player.

Around the time of the Great Recession, there weren’t many lenders originating educational loans. Most of them had exited the business because of the volatility of the market.

This void opened up the perfect opportunity for credit unions to help consumers achieve their educational goals while lowering the average age of their membership at the same time.

Vince Passione, Chief Execut ive Officer and Founder at LendKey , joins the show to discuss how his company saw this emerging need in the market and how they work with credit unions to digitally originate and sell in-purchase loans for education among other verticals.

We discuss:

- Starting out in educational loan refinancing

- The trend towards unsecured loans for home improvement

- What’s coming in the auto finance space

- Working with regulators early and often

Want more lending advice? Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and here.

Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for Leaders in Lending in your favorite podcast player.

Credit Union National Association , or CUNA, represents 5,000 credit unions in the United States serving more than 120 million americans.

In partnership with a network of state credit union leagues and associations, CUNA advocates on behalf of its members and works to ensure that they are able to improve their members’ financial well-being and advance the communities they serve.

Ryan Donovan , Executive Vice President and Chief Advocacy Officer, joins the show to discuss CUNA’s four primary areas of advocacy.

We discuss:

- What CUNA does and what their mission is

- Emerging consumer lending trends in credit unions

- Using AI and ML to improve business strategies

- Advice for fintechs that want to partner with credit unions


Want more lending advice? Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and here.

Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for Leaders in Lending in your favorite podcast player.

Throughout history, most financial institutions have viewed loans as commodity products. Pricing and distribution — the economics of the selling model — have been the primary differentiators when bringing loan products to market.


However, according to Richard Wada , Chief Lending Officer at Patelco Credit Union, there’s a huge opportunity to differentiate through exceptional experience, and more importantly, through strong relationship management throughout the borrower life cycle.


In this episode, he highlights why it’s such a powerful play.


We discuss:


- How solid relationship management can be a competitive advantage


- Promoting the financial health and well-being of members


- How referrals can drive deeper product engagement than traditional acquisition


- Having access to members versus self-directed engagement


Want more lending advice? Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and here.

Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for Leaders in Lending in your favorite podcast player.

It’s tough for smaller credit unions to compete in a digital transformation world. Most of the time, they just don’t have the IT budgets to play in that space.

But with the help of credit union service organizations, or CUSOs, and fintech partnerships, credit unions can close the gap in the digital divide.

In this episode, Drew Megrey, CEO of Ohio Teamsters Credit Union, shares how credit unions are adapting to a digital world.

We discuss:


- Why members prefer a personal touch


- How credit unions adapted to COVID


- Leaning on CUSOs for digitization


- Building effective partnerships for the future


Want more lending advice? Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and here.
Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for Leaders in Lending in your favorite podcast player.

No matter how many shiny advertisements fintechs put out, it would be a mistake to confuse them for omens marking the end of traditional financial institutions like credit unions.

Credit unions have been building something for generations no fintech can compete with them on: trust.

Fintechs won’t replace credit unions — but the successful ones from both camps will partner with one another.

That’s something today’s guest, Dan Berger, President & CEO at NAFCU (National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions), is willing to bet on. Over his many years of experience working with credit unions, he’s learned the obstacles facing many — and how they can overcome them.

In this episode, we discuss:


- The current regulatory landscape for credit unions


- Why fintechs can’t capture the trust credit unions have built


- How partnering with fintechs enable credit unions to expand capabilities


- Why focusing on member needs is paramount to building trust

Want more lending advice? Find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and here.

Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for Leaders in Lending in your favorite podcast player.