Ascend and its employees donated $1.2 million to the Middle Tennessee community in 2021, a significant 26% increase over 2020. Ascend employees personally contributed $13,000 to the company’s overall gift to Middle Tennessee. The credit union’s 2021 Neighborhood Report, issued today, also notes that contributions helped support 113 Middle Tennessee elementary and high schools. Overall, Ascend donated $192,000 to education support and development. The report also notes that Ascend’s members reached a cumulative milestone last year, contributing more than $1 million to The Nature Conservancy in Tennessee since the non-profit organizations partnered in 2011. In addition to the partners’ financial commitment, the credit union physically demonstrated its commitment to conservation in 2021 by donating 70 trees to Root Nashville in commemoration of its 70th anniversary. And employees donated 14,575 items of food to Second Harvest Food Bank – which would be a stack of cans 9/10 of a mile high, a road of turkeys about a mile and half long or a small warehouse worth of fruits and vegetables. And this year’s collection was over 70% larger than last year’s donation. “It may sound trite, but giving back is central to our identity, since our primary goal as a credit union is to pass on savings and growth to our members, including an annual return payment that we have made every year for 17 years,” said Ascend President and CEO Caren Gabriel. “Of course, as a community organization, we also believe in giving back to the community that supports us, and we are honored to work with many great organizations that serve Middle Tennesseans, as this report outlines.” The report also highlights Ascend’s business success, both financially and as an employer. For example, Training Magazine ranked the credit union in the top quarter of its annual Top 100 of quality training programs. Financial literacy is at the core of Ascend’s mission, and it puts its time and money where its pledge is, providing financial literacy training to 5,288 people in the last five years. The credit union’s financial success includes giving a total of $204,766 over the last five years to young account holders to help them jump-start their savings and matching $1,520,983 in employee donations to their 401(k)s in 2020. As Gabriel referenced, Ascend has annually provided a return to members based on the credit union’s performance. In 2021, this return totaled $7 million. Since 2005, Ascend has returned nearly $100 million to its members.
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Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ: FISV), a leading global provider of payments and financial services technology, announced today that Arkansas Federal Credit Union has upgraded from their prior person-to-person (P2P) payment solution to the Zelle Network® via Fiserv. In the first two months post-launch, Arkansas Federal has seen P2P transaction volume increase by more than 200%, and active users grow by more than 120%. Within 60 days members completed approximately 6,500 Zelle® transactions totaling over $1.4 million dollars. “We have a long partnership with Fiserv and trust them to help keep us at the forefront of digital payment solutions for our members,” said Nicole Matsoukas, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Arkansas Federal. “One of our goals is to provide our members with technology that makes their lives easier, so when we saw how much more robust Zelle® was compared to our prior P2P solution, it was an easy choice to switch. The early response from our members has reinforced that decision.” With Zelle®, Arkansas Federal is able to bring members more benefits, like the ability to split expenses with others, so they can manage their money without the hassle of separate cash apps. Arkansas Federal is offering Zelle® via Turnkey Service for Zelle® from Fiserv. The money sent with Zelle® goes directly from one bank account within the U.S. to another, and funds are typically available within minutes if both parties are already enrolled with Zelle®. Fiserv enables Zelle® for more than 900 financial institutions, and the reach of the network factored into Arkansas Federal’s decision. “There is a demand from our customers to be able to send and receive money safely and reliably, and we see an opportunity to allow them to move money more conveniently through a single banking app,” said Matsoukas. “We know our younger members are familiar with cash apps and wanted to give them a great option for sending and receiving money. We also know that our members of all ages are ready for the convenience and ease of use that Zelle® brings, having become more comfortable with digital payments during the pandemic.” “Our partners at Arkansas Federal have taken a progressive approach to providing their members expanded digital offerings, beginning with a core system from Fiserv that enables them to add and update features incrementally,” said Matthew Wilcox, president, Digital Payments and Data Aggregation at Fiserv. “This approach shows that adopting digital tools doesn’t have to be daunting for credit unions or their community members. Further, the dramatic increase we saw in transactions and active users since launching Zelle® for Arkansas Federal is solid proof that all types of individuals are embracing faster, more secure P2P money movement.” Special Olympics Programs in Serving Markets Receive $51,000 Changing the world through sport begins with community. Alaska USA Federal Credit Union is proud of its commitment to the community in supporting Special Olympics programs in Alaska, Arizona, California, and Washington with an overall donation of $51,000. Special Olympics’ mission is to provide year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities. Special Olympics Alaska received $20,000 in support of its biggest community fundraiser – Alaska Law Enforcement Torch Run and a few grassroots programs like Dining with Darci. Special Olympics Arizona received $15,000 in support of the Polar Plunge, Law Enforcement Torch Run and Breakfast with Champions. Special Olympics California received $1,000 in support of the Big Bear Polar Plunge. Special Olympics Washington received $15,000 in support of the Polar Plunge, Community Challenge and Tasting Room gala. “Special Olympics is a catalyst for inclusion that has been improving our communities for more than 50 years. Alaska USA is committed to helping the communities we serve not only through financial support, but through employee volunteerism. By partnering with these programs, we are helping them continue to provide essential services now and well into the future,” said Alaska USA Federal Credit Union President and CEO Geoff Lundfelt. PSCU, the nation’s premier payments credit union service organization (CUSO), has announced that True North Federal Credit Union (True North) has selected the CUSO for credit and debit processing support and services. Headquartered in Juneau, Alaska, True North has been serving its members since 1948, guided by its mission to improve the economic well-being of the members, employees and communities it serves through quality financial solutions. Today, True North makes contributions to civic and nonprofit organizations, as well as recreational and charity events that serve local communities across Anchorage, Juneau and other parts of the state. With more than $205 million in assets, True North was looking for a partner committed to quality and communication. The credit union was also seeking a provider that would uphold the superior level of service its members have come to expect from their credit union. “Our team has been watching PSCU closely, and we were impressed with everything the CUSO has accomplished over the past several years, as well as how dynamic it has become,” said Lauren MacVay, president and CEO of True North. “We are pleased to partner with an organization that demonstrates such a consistent commitment to credit unions, as we feel confident PSCU is well-positioned to best lead us into the future.” PSCU will begin providing credit and debit processing services and support to more than 12,600 True North members in October 2022. “True North’s dedication to the credit union philosophy of ‘people helping people’ is a value shared by PSCU,” said Scott Wagner, EVP, chief revenue officer at PSCU. “We are pleased to welcome True North to the cooperative and look forward to putting our industry-leading solutions to work to deliver an unparalleled experience for their members.” Constellation Digital Partners announced today that it will launch a new certified service for Meritrust Credit Union that will provide privacy-preserving, verifiable digital identity credentials through its platform. The innovative solution to authenticating membership identity, MemberPass™, is enabled through the strategic partnership with fintech industry veteran Bonifii. “MemberPass is a breakthrough identity technology that provides credit unions and their members with a myriad of security benefits,” said John Ainsworth, CEO, and President of Bonifii. “It upgrades security authentication protocols and helps credit unions move beyond knowledge-based authentication questions. Instead, a MemberPass digital credential allows Meritrust members to authenticate who they are using new blockchain-based identity technology. This allows them to control their personal information and use it in a safe and private way to access financial services.” “Meritrust is working to improve members’ financial well-being by staying connected not only through these extraordinary times but beyond,” said Holly Terrill, Director of Member Support Services, at Meritrust Credit Union, “Even before the pandemic created an urgency for digital banking, Meritrust made it a priority to offer a range of services that make it easy to bank on members’ personal time. With the launch of MemberPass, we can now reduce friction while delivering the control and security over personal information that our members need to interact with us when it’s most convenient for them.” Through Constellation and its roster of other credit unions planning deployment, Bonifii can connect and deliver benefits to more credit union members. With this type of strategic collaboration, Bonifii enables credit unions to drive and improve engagement with their members and provide them the privacy and security they need while using digital banking and financial services. “The value of Constellation is the cutting-edge safety and industry-leading fintech innovation provided by Bonifii,” said David Lindner, SVP of Sales and Marketing. “Credit unions that deploy on our platform with either full digital banking or even stand-alone services will have the capability to provide MemberPass to members. Our credit union partners can feel confident in the simple integration and superlative data security.” Plinqit today announced Diane Hicks as its Director of Marketing. The only savings platform of its kind that pays users for learning about personal finances, Plinqit continues to expand, adding industry executives proven to grow brands and support aggressive growth. Hicks’ unique perspective and solid marketing background will drive Plinqit’s sales pipeline and strengthen the company’s position within the industry. Prior to joining Plinqit, Hicks spent over 16 years with Maryland-based Community Bank of the Chesapeake, where she served as Senior Vice President and Director of Marketing and Communications. While there, she was instrumental in refining the bank’s multi-billion-dollar brand through strategic market analysis, campaign management and prudent media placement in competitive markets. With a proven history of leveraging the latest marketing strategies against new market data to increase brand awareness, Hicks’ and her former team’s work has been nationally recognized, receiving the Telly Award, the International Communicator Award of Distinction, Videographer Award of Excellence and MarCom’s Platinum & Gold Award. She was also named to Southern Maryland News’ Women to Watch last year. Hicks earned her bachelor’s from the University of Maryland. She has also volunteered with the Charles Regional Medical Center for the past five years and recently joined the hospital’s board. “I am thrilled to join the Plinqit team,” said Hicks. “As the company sets new records, I look forward to identifying and nurturing meaningful partnerships that elevate the brand and further position Plinqit as a key fintech provider.” Plinqit specializes in providing financial institutions with a cost-effective customer acquisition strategy while also delivering tools that improve consumers’ financial wellness. With its patented Build Skills™, users not only interact with content that improves their financial literacy – they are paid to do so. On average, Plinqit costs less than that of a traditional savings account for financial institutions and offers a way to build stronger connections, critical as demand for better financial education grows. "Diane has a track record of successfully driving effective marketing strategies,” said Kathleen Craig, Founder and CEO of Plinqit. “This – coupled with her experience in community banking and fresh perspective – will further accelerate our strategy and brand. I am confident in her ability to help take us to the next level, as demand for our platform grows.” Scienaptic AI, a leading global AI-powered credit decision platform provider, announced today that GO, a first-of-its-kind car subscription, has partnered with the company to provide enhanced and faster decisions to its customers. In partnering, GO looks to increase the availability of its offering using transformative technology in its screening and decisioning process. GO provides consumers a cheaper and easier way to get their daily driver. GO thrives where other car subscriptions failed: Price. Through a complete reimagining of the car subscription model, GO saves customers around 20-30% per month compared to traditional car ownership. The entire process is handled online without stepping foot in a physical location. With Scienaptic’s AI-powered platform, GO will be able to offer quicker approvals, drive higher automation, receive enhanced risk signals and help more customers with poor credit history. “Until now, the only attempts at innovation outside of the traditional automotive experience were extremely expensive and not practical for, or even desired by, most consumers. GO serves the mass audience of payment-driven shoppers looking to get the best car for their monthly budget. By removing all the things that add cost and frustration with little value in return, we provide customers a value proposition so compelling that it almost seems too good to be true,” said Michael Beauchamp, GO’s Founder and CEO. “Our partnership with Scienaptic allows us to further streamline our customer application and transaction process resulting in less friction and smarter screening to extend the GO offering to an even larger audience.” Correspondingly, Pankaj Jain, President of Scienaptic AI, said, “We are excited to partner with GO Car Subscription, which is helping people achieve one of the basic requirements of modern times – car drivership for all. Our AI-powered platform will enable GO to assess potential customers faster, make advanced decisions and expand their business while reducing the associated risk significantly. We are looking forward to helping GO Car Subscription grow and ensure that millions of customers have the car of their dreams.” Lodestar Technologies Inc., a business intelligence leader in the financial services industry, welcomes its newest client to the growing community. Oklahoma's Credit Union (OKCU), based in Oklahoma City, has chosen Lodestar as a trusted partner in their initiative to transform the credit union's data strategy. OKCU will implement the robust Lodestar Enterprise Data Store (LDS) and several Workflow Management Tools to provide a single, fully-integrated and accurate source of truth for all data, as well as intelligence and analytical capabilities to support the overall digital transformation and member experience. Lodestar's analytics tools provide clients a best-of-breed analytics solution built on Oracle's latest business intelligence platform. The solution seamlessly aggregates all strategic data sources for the credit union, allowing for immediate access to data by all levels of staff to manage operational areas such as risk, delinquency, collections, fraud management as well as more strategic areas such as sales management and marketing campaigns. Aligned with OKCU's objectives, Lodestar will empower all areas of the credit union, with immediate initiatives including:
In addition to sophisticated tools, Lodestar offers a guided approach to data strategy, with personalized engagement roadmaps designed to propel clients along their analytics journey. Lodestar's experienced technical team boasts in-depth knowledge of the Fiserv DNA core banking system, along with many other key technology providers in the financial services space. OKCU also selected Lodestar's workflows to automate identification and resolution of data quality exceptions, mine sales and service opportunities based on business rules and support and streamline task management. The Lodestar workflow modules have the ability to provide insights into process improvement as well as streamlined sales and marketing management by leveraging all data sources. "With our team's in-depth knowledge of the DNA core system, we see this is as a great opportunity to partner with OKCU in order to achieve both the credit union's strategic objectives and also drive enhancement of our services and solutions," said Steve Mott, VP Sales for Lodestar. Dale Thurman, OKCU's Digital Product Director, is among the team leading the data strategy for the credit union. "We are very excited about our decision to partner with Lodestar as we continue to enhance our products, services, and experiences," said Thurman. "Harnessing the power of our data, as well as streamlining many of our workflows, will allow us to focus on what is most important to us: our members." Leading global AI-powered credit decision platform provider Scienaptic AI announced today that Arkansas Federal Credit Union has chosen its AI-based underwriting technology to improve the credit union’s loan decisioning process and make advanced decisions for community members. Arkansas Federal, which has been serving Arkansans since 1956, provides a full suite of financial products and services to more than 130,000 members. As a member-owned credit union, Arkansas Federal’s purpose is to make a difference in the lives of its employees, members and the communities it serves. With Scienaptic AI’s credit underwriting platform, Arkansas Federal will be able to increase credit access for its community through instant loan decisioning and higher approvals. “At Arkansas Federal, we are focused on ensuring access to credit to our members so that they can achieve their financial goals, whether that’s buying their first home or refinancing their debt so that they can have peace of mind,” said Terry Vick, executive vice president and chief lending officer at Arkansas Federal. “With Scienaptic's AI technology, our loan decisioning will become automated, sharper and faster, enabling us to provide loans to members whose credit scores are unfairly low while enhancing everyone’s ability to get fair rates backed by local service.” “Our cutting-edge AI-enabled credit underwriting technology will help Arkansas Federal increase approval rates and lend with more confidence. Our platform helps to empower both members and credit unions by increasing credit access and minimizing risk while increasing the number of beneficiaries,” said Pankaj Jain, President of Scienaptic. “We are excited to be part of this journey to bring empowerment and growth opportunities to the state of Arkansas.” More than 45 million consumers are considered to be either credit unserved[i] or underserved[ii] in the United States, according to a new global TransUnion (NYSE: TRU) study – “Empowering Credit Inclusion: A Deeper Perspective on Credit Underserved and Unserved Consumers.” However, the study found that about one in four consumers (24%) who started as credit underserved were found to have migrated to becoming credit active in a two-year window prior to the pandemic. During the height of the pandemic, this percentage of consumers becoming more active decreased slightly to 22%, with the profile of those consumers skewing younger than the pre-pandemic sample. In addition to the United States, the TransUnion global study observed consumer credit behavior in Canada, Colombia, Hong Kong, India and South Africa, to get a better sense of the market size of these unserved and underserved consumer segments. “Our study clearly points to hundreds of millions of consumers around the globe being credit unserved or underserved,” said Charlie Wise, senior vice president and global head of research and consulting at TransUnion. “These credit disadvantaged consumers are often unable to access financial products and services because they have no, or little, credit history. This study served to better understand how many people are truly under- or unserved from a credit perspective, while also determining paths for them to gain more credit opportunities.” The study explored the characteristics and behaviors of credit unserved and underserved consumers and their overall sentiments towards credit, while offering key insights into the credit journeys of these consumers. Unserved consumers are defined as any person who has never had an open traditional credit product (such as a credit card, personal loan, or auto loan, to name a few) as reported on the TransUnion consumer credit database. The underserved population has minimal credit participation, limited to a single type of credit product and no more than two open accounts of that type, and have been active in the credit market for at least two years. This study specifically excluded new-to-credit consumers – those who have opened their first product within the past two years – from the underserved population, as many of those new-to-credit consumers become more fully credit active soon after opening their first product. The study sought to understand those consumers who remain unserved or underserved over a longer time period. Two cohorts of consumers were studied, each over a two-year time period – the first during the pre-pandemic period beginning March 2018 through March 2020, and the second beginning in June 2019 and studied through the pandemic time period of June 2021, to determine if there were any pandemic-related shifts with consumer credit migration trends. While some unserved (also called credit inactive) consumers may have traditional credit scores when they open their first credit product, many do not. This lack of a credit score and any history of credit activity is an impediment for these unserved consumers to get their first credit product, as many lenders are hesitant to extend credit to consumers without any credit history or score. For these traditionally unscorable consumers, they face a “chicken or egg” conundrum of how to get that first credit product when they lack a credit history. “This reality underscores the importance of incorporating alternative data into the financial ecosystem so that fewer consumers find themselves as credit invisible. Once these consumers can be evaluated by financial institutions, lenders can better determine where there might be new opportunities for growth and how they can expand credit inclusion,” said Wise. Once U.S. Underserved Consumers Become Credit Served, They are Likely to Apply for More Credit Every year, a portion of the underserved consumer population – those with minimal credit activity – become more fully credit active by opening additional credit products, while many still remain in that underserved segment. To better understand how underserved consumers transitioned to becoming more fully credit active, the study looked at which credit products consumers had opened within the two-year period. For the purpose of the study, underserved consumers transitioned to served if they opened additional product types over the two-year study period – for example, when a previous credit card only consumer also opens an auto loan. The most common first credit products held by underserved consumers in the United States were credit cards (44%), which was seen to an even greater degree in the Canadian market (84%). This mirrors broader trends that TransUnion has observed in these developed countries, where credit cards are the most common first product for consumers entering the credit market. This varied by country; however, as the study found that in emerging markets like Colombia, India and South Africa, the product types most commonly held by underserved consumers were microcredit, agricultural loans and clothing loans, respectively. In the United States, 90% of underserved consumers that migrated to credit served within the two-year period did so by opening a second product type. The most commonly opened second product types were credit card, private label cards and auto loans. The study also found that consumers who migrated from underserved to served (opened at least one new product type) over the two-year period had more inquiries – applications for new credit – than consumers who remained underserved. While some of that higher inquiry activity was attributable to the fact that they opened new accounts, the overall higher level of inquiry activity by those consumers who migrated to the served segment implies that these consumers have a significantly higher demand for new credit, and that this demand is not necessarily being met by lenders. “The number of new credit inquiries were materially higher for consumers that migrated to served compared to consumers who remained underserved. These consumers appear to want more credit, but they are not necessarily able to access the credit they want, potentially due to their limited credit history. This highlights a missed opportunity for lenders who are seeking to grow and add new customers. Many of these underserved consumers would likely be well-performing and profitable borrowers, but because of their limited credit history, lenders are reluctant to extend them credit. Incorporating alternative data on consumers into lending decisions could enable lenders to get a fuller picture of the financial capacity of underserved consumers and make credit available to more of them,” added Wise. Unserved or Underserved? Survey Confirms Varying Levels of Credit Satisfaction TransUnion also commissioned an online global survey[iii] of nearly 11,100 adults (ages 18 years and older) to gather sentiment from unserved and underserved consumers on the topic of credit. These countries studied included the United States, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, and the Philippines. The findings revealed consumer beliefs, attitudes and experiences with credit that may be influencing current and future behaviors. Depending upon the country, respondents cited they are interested in applying for more credit in 2022 to varying degrees. In the United States, for example, only 29% of unserved consumers – those without any credit product – plan on applying for credit, compared to 46% of underserved consumers. The reason for this differentiation may be due to the fact that it is typically easier for underserved consumers, who generally have at least one credit account, to secure credit than consumers who are completely credit inactive. When comparing the consumer sentiment of unserved consumers with underserved consumers, there tends to be a pronounced difference in the level of satisfaction with their current amount of credit. In the U.S., 60% of underserved consumers were satisfied or extremely satisfied with their current amount of credit, while only 35% of unserved consumers, those with no credit currently, had the same level of satisfaction. Additionally, 26% of unserved consumers were not satisfied at all with their level of credit, while only 6% of underserved consumers expressed dissatisfaction. This potentially speaks to differences in awareness of the potential uses and benefits of credit between those with some limited credit activity and those with no credit at all. “Promoting financial inclusion will start with gathering a better understanding of the different nuances between the unserved, underserved and served populations and what makes them tick. For example, what drives unserved consumers to apply for credit, and why underserved consumers may need a different credit product may vary greatly. As lenders are better able to meet the unique needs of these consumers and educate these unserved and underserved segments on ways they can build and improve their credit profiles, a larger percentage will become actively engaged in the credit system,” concluded Wise. For more information and insights on the global TransUnion study, “Empowering Credit Inclusion: A Deeper Perspective on Credit Underserved and Unserved Consumers,” please download the report. |
Author: Mike LawsonMarried to a most gorgeous and wonderful wife, raising 5 kiddos (including twins!), enjoy helping others tell their stories, and love surfing SoCal waves. Keep it simple. Archives
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