WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.—The $5.3-billion Truliant FCU here and $5.4-billion Coastal Credit Union have partnered to create the Credit Union Auto Marketplace, a preowned auto-buying center for credit union members.
The organizations say the move is another step in adding value and deepening relationships with members.
The dealership, with a building and car lot located in Winston-Salem, also serves members through online car finding with a database of thousands of vehicles. CUAM promotes “no-haggle” pricing with discounts for credit union borrowers and free home delivery within 250 miles.
“I think it's just an additional member perk we can present and is another way to stand out in a busy marketplace,” said Joe Mecca, VP of Communication for the Raleigh, N.C.-based Coastal. “Core services, core products, checking, loans, basic deposits, are pretty much commodities anymore. There's only so much you can do on pricing and features of your accounts to stand out.”
Mecca said any new offers the CU introduces, that set it apart from other FIs, are just ways to build stronger relationships.
Added Value
Joe Mecca
“The added relationship pieces certainly add to the value that we're able to provide to our membership,” he said. “It made a lot of sense for us to get involved and just expand our offerings on the auto side.”
CU Auto Marketplace is structured as a credit union service organization—owned by Truliant, Coastal and TrueBuy Automotive, which already had the dealership and vehicle inventory. Mecca said Truliant approached his credit union about collaborating on the business.
The new dealership is at the previous location of the Credit Union Auto Buying Service (CUABS), which was supported by TrueBuy Automotive. In 1993 CUABS, was started as part of AT&T Family Federal Credit Union, Truliant CU’s previous name. In 2017, CUABS was sold to C.U.R.E. LLC, also known as CU CarFinders, based in Norcross, Ga. The organization remained a Truliant partner and was still known as CUABS. In 2022, CUABS partnered with TrueBuy, before the Coastal and Truliant arrangement was formed last year.
“We do a lot of auto lending, that's one of the core pieces of our business,” Mecca said. “A lot of times members come to us where they want pre-approval first on the loan before they start shopping. This, now, gives us an opportunity to say if you're in the market for a vehicle here's another place to check. There are member discounts available if you go through them and finance with us. It just adds a tool to the toolkit. I don’t want to say Carvana, but it is the Carvana model, in some ways—a modern concierge pre-owned buying experience—online searching, no-haggle pricing and free delivery.”
Mecca said the group would certainly entertain the possibility of looking at locations more central to where Coastal CU does most of its business. Coastal also views the dealership as a way to make more loans.
TrueBuy supplies the vehicles and has a deep online inventory that extends beyond the cars located on the lot of Credit Union Auto Marketplace, Mecca explained.
Easy Access
Mecca said Coastal has a link to Credit Union Auto Marketplace on its website, and the dealership, too, has a standalone site.
“Our members, for the longest time, have come to us for mortgages,” Mecca said, about what helped Coastal decide to work with Truliant. “Our credit union has built up that side of the lending business with additional services, such a REALTY operation. What we are doing on the auto side is parallelling what we have done on our mortgage business.”
Heath Combs, public communications strategist at Truliant, said his organization has always been a proponent of making things easy for members to do business with them.
“So, things like no-haggle pricing. We think it enriches the credit union experience. Credit Union Auto Marketplace gives our members a better auto buying experience.”