2004 Excellence-in-Lending Award Winners Celebrate “Simple” Successes

Karen Bankston
March 16, 2005

Lending managers at credit unions honored with the fifth annual Excellence in Lending Awards presented by the CUNA Lending Council and CUNA Mutual Group in November 2004 share their lending strategies that produced notable growth in 2003, as well as set the stage for consistent performance in years to come.

Credit unions that are interviewed in detail in this white paper are:

· Midwest United Credit Union, Blue Springs, Missouri ($136 million in assets, 32,000 members)

· Mission Federal Credit Union, San Diego, California ($1.8 billion in assets, 130,000 members)

· Westerly Community Credit Union, Westerly, Rhode Island ($142 million in assets, 14,536 members)

· Redwood Credit Union, Santa Rosa, California ($1.1 billion in assets, 110,000 members)

The strategies these credit unions employed reflect the unique nature of their membership and market, but some commonalities include a move toward streamlining lending processes through automation, offering a diverse product mix, and setting lending growth as a goal requiring the support of everyone in the organization.

Ultimately the game plan that was designed for improved lending depended upon implementing core HR and marketing strategies, such as emphasizing what sets your credit union apart, improving employee and member relationships, making lending success everyone’s job, and setting goals and systematically measuring progress.

This is the executive summary to a white paper entitled “Elegant Lending Solutions: 2004 Excellence in Lending Award Winners Celebrate Simple Successes.” To view the entire paper, visit http://www.cunalendingcouncil.org/tools/research.html.