ATLANTA-There are several ways to enhance the bottom line, notes one person, but just one where the focus should initially be.
"There are two ways to increase the bottom line: increase revenue and decrease expenses," explained Todd Schubert, senior vice president and business unit leader for TransAmerica (formerly marketed as Creditor Resources, Inc.). Expenses often include vendor fees, and if CUs want to save money there, "you generally have to go through a recontracting process and a renegotiation process."
But if CUs already have a credit/debt program in place-such as those offered by TransAmerica-those vendors can work with credit unions "to spell out incentives, training programs and visibility programs for your member service reps."
Schubert added, "If you look at what a credit union is doing with credit insurance and debt canceling, that's something they can impact immediately, through training, incentives, and general visibility within the credit union." TransAmerica offers both credit insurance and debt canceling products.
Schubert posited that even with vendor fees, credit unions with the right programs in place can begin to impact their bottom line within a week.
"You can put a program together, flash it around your portal, your intranet, and drive behavior right away," he said. "You just have to get your employees excited and motivated to sell the product to the member. If you look at the time spent selling a loan and the incremental time spent to sell insurance on top of a loan, the incremental expense is nothing."
