Syracuse Federal Credit Union has nabbed a prime branch location at an auto mall-a move that could enhance the CU loan portfolios across the state.
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In a deal made with auto dealer Roger Burdick, SFCU will lease property at the mall entrance and get right of first refusal on all car loans. Burdick purchased vacant mall property in December and expects to have it renovated and ready for the first franchises to move this fall.
The mall, to be called Drivers Village, is officially set for completion by 2004. It will include 23 new car and truck franchises, plus an additional 80,000-square-feet devoted to used vehicles. There will also be a coffee and sandwich shop, an insurance office, an Enterprise car rental office and a limousine service.
"They make money selling cars and we make money financing them," said Greg Card, CEO of SFCU with $33 million in assets. "It's a good match." It doesn't hurt that Cicero is the fastest growing town in the county and that SFCU has all of the participating car dealerships as SEGs, Card said.
SFCU was originally formed to serve the Syracuse Police Department. It expanded to include a local General Motors operation "until GM pulled out of this area," Card said, then later was successful in soliciting car dealerships in the area as credit union members.
"To us and to all of the employees of the dealership, this is a very convenient location," he said, noting that the CU expects to offer loan services along with everything else at what will be its seventh location. Its main facility is in Syracuse.
Because SFCU is not a community CU and won't be able to serve everybody who purchases or leases a vehicle at Drivers Village, SFCU will act as the liaison for indirect lending between customer/members and their own credit unions. "If someone wants to get a car loan through another credit union, we would be able to help them," Card said.
Card added that he is sure the CU industry can compete with the dealerships on rates, especially since the low- and no-interest promotions have ended. He said he expects the loan business to boom particularly in the used car market.
