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ow important is digi- tal banking to credit unions? Three an- nouncements, which

focus on enhancing member ex- perience and knowledge, include chronicling a digital transforma- tion journey, chatbot integra- tion and interactive mobile video banking.

The $1.65 billion, Burbank, Calif.-based Partners Federal Credit Union, which serves Walt Disney Company cast members, employees and their families, embarked on a new digital trans- formation journey. Partners is opening up about its digital trans- formation journey and chroni- cling the good, the bad and the ugly via documentary-style videos.

Faced with the challenge of co- ordinating its community branch- es with services of a digital credit union to compete with big banks like Bank of America and Chase, Partners partnered with the Aus- tin, Texas-based digital apps com- pany Kony and Boston Consulting Group to completely overhaul its

technologies, processes, systems and services to better address the needs of its employees and mem- bers including: • Enhancing its app offerings in

real-time while making addi- tional enhancements along the way.

• Accelerating digital innova- tion  and solution rollouts from releasing app updates once ev- ery six months to releasing up- dates every other week. The $2.2 billion, Orlando, Fla.-

based FAIRWINDS Credit Union launched its FAIRWINDS Virtual Advisor in partnership with Abe AI, an Orlando-based artificial intelligence software company specializing in digital consum- er financial technology. FAIR- WINDS said it is the first finan- cial institution headquartered in Florida to offer this service to members.

The FAIRWINDS Virtual Ad- visor utilizes conversational AI to offer virtual assistance using voice and messaging platforms, including Facebook Messen- ger, Google Home and Amazon

Alexa. In response to a simple question, the FAIRWINDS Vir- tual Advisor can provide FAIR- WINDS members with a wealth of information to help them along their path to achieving fi- nancial freedom.

The $63 million, Torrance, Calif.-based CalCom Federal Credit Union aimed to enhance its digital services and create more personal connections with members with the installation of POPin Video Banking Collabora- tion, billed as the world’s first in- teractive mobile video banking solution.

The Salt Lake City-based POPin Video Banking Collaboration en- ables face-to-face video chat and simultaneously collaborates between financial institutions and customers across all digital channels. Through this patented technology, members can access branch services and complete nearly all banking needs via the web, personal devices or branch- based video, removing the need for either party to be in a physical branch or office. n

s indirect lending continued to add vol- ume to credit union auto loan portfolios in

2017, those affected included the 1,117 credit unions affiliated with CU Direct, an auto lending CUSO based near Los Angeles.

The CUSO, which has grown from nine shareholders in 1998 to more than 100 last year, an- nounced it has approved a 3% cash shareholder dividend, its 13th consecutive dividend.

“We are pleased to once again provide a strong return on invest- ment to our shareholders,” Presi- dent/CEO Tony Boutelle said. “Credit unions continue to dem- onstrate their ability to compete with banks and win in the auto lending marketplace; we remain focused on delivering innovative

lending technology that helps our credit union partners make more loans and create a better member experience.”

Indirect lenders represent three quarters of the credit union move- ment’s assets and members. As of Sept. 30, these 1,935 credit unions had $1 trillion in assets and 83.5 million members.

Out of that group, CU Direct’s 92 credit union shareholders had $203.8 billion in assets and 14.1 million members on Sept. 30.

CU Direct  signed new agree- ments with 71 credit unions in 2017. At year’s end, its agreements covered 1,117 credit unions serv- ing 47.8 million members for its technology products, including CUDL, Lending 360, Lending In- sights, AutoSMART and OnSpot Financing.

Credit unions funded 1.8 mil- lion loans through CU Direct’s Lending 360 and CUDL lend- ing platform, generating a record $39 billion in  credit union auto loans in 2017, up from $32 billion in 2016.

CU Direct credit union part- ners, as an aggregate, became the largest auto lender in the nation in 2017, experiencing 16.2% loan growth, the second-highest loan origination growth rate among the top 10 lenders in the nation ac- cording to data from AutoCount. CU Direct said its credit unions have doubled their auto loans since 2013. n

Video, AI Helps Credit Unions Step Up Digital Banking

CU Direct Continues Auto Loan Expansion

redit union rob- beries are not un- usual. Occasionally, however, the way in

which credit unions are robbed is unusual, which occurred Feb. 20 in a small North Carolina city.

Police in Reidsville reported that a man holding a large stick walked into a branch of the $50.6 million American Partners Feder- al Credit Union just before 4 p.m. and yelled, “This is a robbery!”

The stick robber jumped over the teller counter and grabbed an undisclosed amount of cash.

Reidsville police did not say whether the robber wielded the big stick in a threatening way at anyone in the branch. 

American Partners President/ CEO Brian Bone said no one in the branch was injured during the incident. He declined further comment.

After stealing the money,

the suspect left the branch and walked east.

About 10 minutes later, Rock- ingham County Sheriff Sgt. Adam Mosqueda spotted the suspect who matched a description of the stick robber at a convenient store parking lot.

As Mosqueda approached the suspect, he noticed the robber was winded, and he was holding a wad of cash in one of his hands.

The suspect was identified as Kendrick Alezander Hart, 29, of Reidsville, who will face an armed robbery charge.

Police did not say whether the big stick was retrieved. n

tanley Hayes, former president/CEO of the liquidated Valley State Credit Union, is sched-

uled to be sentenced in April af- ter he admitted to embezzling $710,000 from the Saginaw, Mich., cooperative.

Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette said Hayes pleaded guilty in a state court in February to 13 felonies, which included em- bezzlement, computer crime and racketeering.

Hayes, 45, was CEO of VSCU from 2005 until he was fired in 2016.

In order to make the financial position of VSCU appear better than it was to auditors, Hayes em- bezzled funds to pay loans, includ- ing loans held by dead persons.

He also used the money he stole to pay for his insurance, property taxes, travel and other personal expenses.

Most of the money was siphoned from the credit union via computer transactions, but nearly $200,000

in cash was taken from Hayes’ teller drawer over several years, ac- cording to state prosecutors.

In addition to stealing from the  small credit union with only $19.8 million in assets, the former CEO was paid $142,864 in 2015, according to the credit union’s 990 financial documents filed with the IRS.

The fraud was uncovered after an investigation by the  Michigan Department of Insurance and Fi- nancial Services found financial irregularities, including overly high risks in its loan portfolio, lack of internal controls, inaccurate re- porting, and the failures of man- agement and the board of direc- tors to address these problems.

In April 2017, the state regulator liquidated  the credit union after determining it was insolvent.

The $568 million ELGA Credit Union in Burton, Mich., assumed Valley State’s assets, shares and loans, and continued to serve its 2,715 members. n

Police Arrest Credit Union ‘Stick Robber’

Former Michigan CEO Admits Embezzlement

In Brief

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