PROVO, Utah - A research project by one credit union executive 10 years ago has lead to a four-person company that now specializes in crunching data to help credit unions measure their performance and that of their peers.
With three employees and president Ratna Lingam, the Provo, Utah-based CU Data provides quarterly financial data on CUs across the country. The web-based service delivers analysis of information such as assets, net worth, return on assets, membership growth, loan growth, and employee productivity. In addition to deep data, the website also provides analysis on trends within credit unions via a quarterly trend summary and through a number of trend categories on the site, like loan delinquencies.
The data can be used to allow CUs to compare how they’re faring against CUs locally, statewide, or nationally, and lets users customize comparisons. Lingam is also SVP and CFO for Utah Community CU here, but CU Data is not affiliated with UCCU.
Darren Godfrey, VP and CFO of the $616-million Goldenwest CU in Ogden, said his credit union has been using CU Data to monitor industry performance for the past eight years.
“We learn from each other. That’s the key,” said Godfrey. “As we look at the numbers we can see what’s going on at each credit union and get a get a heads up about trends that may be happening. If we see credit unions starting to head down a path, perhaps struggling with delinquencies, we’ll give them a call to find out what’s going on. It keeps us ahead in the market.”
Godfrey explains Goldenwest uses the data to see what’s occurring locally, especially with CUs in its asset size. It looks at smaller CUs, and also compares how Goldenwest is faring against some of the larger credit unions in the state. “If you see credit unions growing like you’re growing, you know you are in a robust area,” Godfrey said. “If we are slowing down and we see others moving fast we can take a closer look at why they are growing. So if someone is performing well above us we can look at their loan or deposit mix, figure out their growth rates, and analyze where their overall growth is coming from. CU Data shows you the areas in which credit unions are outperforming you and you can call the CUs and find out why.”
That sort of intelligence is worth the $495 Goldenwest spends for an annual CU Data subscription, Godfrey said. Kathie M. Romero of the $150-million Tucson Old Pueblo CU in Arizona, agrees that its subscription with CU Data is also well spent. She said TOPCU uses the information primarily at board meetings. “It helps to validate our position in the market,” explained Romero, who used CU Data to confirm that other local credit unions are also currently wrestling with loan losses, as is Tucson Old Pueblo. “We can see that we’re not the only credit union suffering from the situation. With the board, sometimes they can think the sky is falling. This shows them that others are experiencing the same issues and helps them understand.”
Godfrey said the information helps Goldenwest set strategy, while Romero said her CU does not use the data for that purpose. Since CU Data does not include bank information, and as such both credit unions said the data does not help in plotting bank competition.
Ratna Lingam, CU Data’s founder and president, said the information is extracted from NCUA 5300 Call Report data. Lingam got the idea for his business more than 10 years ago when someone at his credit union wanted information on local CU competitors. “I spent a lot of time compiling that information. I knew there had to be a better way,” said Lingam.(c) 2008 The Credit Union Journal and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved.http://www.cujournal.com http://www.sourcemedia.com
