PORTLAND, Ore. – Business services CUSO CU Business Group, LLC on Tuesday said it has added 35 new credit union clients so far in 2015, allowing it to top the 500-credit union milestone.
CUBG now serves credit unions in 46 states. Recent new clients range in asset size from $98 million Heart of Louisiana Credit Union, Pineville, La., to $1.3 billion Austin Telco CU, Austin, Texas.
"Credit unions continue to see business services as a growth and diversification opportunity," Larry Middleman, CUBG's president and CEO, said in a statement. "While some are just getting started, others are ramping up to serve larger, more sophisticated businesses and are coming to CUBG for assistance and expertise."
CUBG said its clients engage with the CUSO for a variety of programs, including back office commercial lending support for underwriting, loan documentation and annual reviews. It also has seen rapid growth in requests for third-party reviews of business lending portfolios and operations, and has assisted several credit unions with business deposit program design and support.
Other recently added clients have turned to CUBG to buy or sell business loan participations through CUBG's nationwide participation network, it said.
"In a recent poll conducted by CUBG, 86% of credit unions said they plan to expand, grow and do more in business lending in the next three years, while 75% of credit unions said they plan to do more in business deposits," Middleman said.
"At the same time, there are credit unions looking to simply maintain their current programs that need additional help with annual reviews, policy guidance, or education for their staff. CU Business Group is fortunate to be able to assist credit unions in all of these areas," said Middleman.
In an average month, CU Business Group's team of 20 business lenders underwrite more than 60 loans and perform more than 75 annual reviews. In addition, the CUSO prepares an average of 150 sets of loan documents each month, and offers a variety of on-demand webinars and in-person training courses.
CU Business Group reported it added 41 new credit unions in 2014 and currently has a 98.6% client retention rate.
