EL SEGUNDO, Calif.—Saying too many CUSOs offer single services and that credit unions need to simplify vendor management, Xceed Financial CU has launched Global Enterprise Resource Group, a CUSO whose goal is to offer CUs a wide range of support.
Global, which formally launched in October, currently offers:
- Comprehensive lending solutions, including loan origination, loan processing, underwriting and servicing, loan purchase programs, and loan participation programs.
- Strategic risk management, including credit risk management, collections support, charge-off management, and charge-off sales.
- Marketing and branding programs—including writing, design production, traditional and new media, and market and consumer research.
The $908-million Xceed plans to expand on those services in the coming years, and said the CUSO is “stepping in to fill a void that exists in the credit union market," according to Kate Reidel, Xceed director of strategic initiatives.
“Right now, most CUSOs offer a single service. The fact is that the single-service approach can make vendor management a nightmare for t
Kate Reidel, Xceed
he client,” she said. “For example, you have a credit union that wants to add auto loans to its product line. Traditionally, they’d turn to one entity to help with product development, another to help with marketing the loans, and yet another to handle loan operation functions.”
Juggling Act
With these “slices” of the project handled by different vendors, the credit union executive is stuck with a “juggling act trying to make sure all their activities are coordinated and working together,” according Reidel.
Reidel shared that credit union interest in Global has been good from the start, saying attention is coming from executives who are stretched thin—needing to do more with less money and fewer staff.
Reidel said Global can serve the needs of CUs with assets of $20 million or $2 billion.
“Some people think CUSOs are just for small credit unions, but we deliberately designed Global to be flexible to meet the needs of financial institutions of all sizes,” she said. “Certainly, we expect that smaller credit unions will be very important partners for us, because most of them simply don’t have the staff or resources to handle these services in-house.”
Big Goals
But it’s important to remember, Reidel continued, that larger financial institutions have commensurately larger goals.
“We can step in to help support these needs. For example, there may be times when they’re short-staffed for some reason. Or, if they’re looking to test a new product or approach we can be an extension of their internal staff,” she said. “Again, because we’re flexible and have such broad expertise, we can customize our services to meet their goals—that’s boosting a segment of their portfolio, reducing their charge-offs, implementing a marketing campaign, or something else entirely.”
Global is a subsidiary of Xceed Financial, but Reidel said the CUSO expects other financial institutions will eventually be part of the company.
“As far as the services we will eventually offer, I’d say the sky’s the limit,” said Reidel. “We’re looking to leverage our core competencies, which are significant, so as we identify other needs that we think we can meet—efficiently and cost-effectively—then we’ll explore those opportunities.”