LEVERAGE Monthly Newsletter

	Stephanie Hainje Stephanie, our Portfolio Consultant, loves to cook and entertain friends and family as if she was a master chef on the Food Network. BAM! When she’s not preparing meals at home, she uses more than 17 years of card experience to get the job done for financial institutions. She’s an expert in credit and debit processing, marketing, lending, operations, payments education, payments RFP, affinity card programs, and sales training. She has the knowledge and care to make sure your program is performing at the level you want. Stephanie has a keen eye for detail--keeping her finger on the pulse of every aspect of your business so you can focus on what matters most: your customers. Stephanie dives right into the project to look at your goals and find the challenges your program can overcome.
	Jonathan Wright Jonathan, our Director of Sales and Consultative Services, has 16 years of cards experience, including retail and account executive roles. A People Pleaser at heart, Jonathan loves to serve and finds the most satisfaction in finding solutions to problems. His mother instilled this value early on in his life - it's what drives him every day. He’s an expert in retail sales and operational flow, portfolio performance analytics, fraud and network, contract review, RFP, and strategic consulting practices. He asks the most important questions upfront: “What issues need attention? We can’t begin to fix if we don’t acknowledge what’s broken.” Jonathan’s skills and drive have helped him excel in his career. He wants to know how financial institutions define success in their cards programs. Jonathan believes in working for his clients first. When they are successful, he’s successful.
	Siddharth Kapur Siddharth Kapur, our Portfolio Consultant, much like The Force, brings balance to the team. He is a credit union veteran with 7 years of experience in the industry. When he’s not in the office, he loves spending time outdoors and golfing with his friends. With his strong background in payments, rewards, and digital banking, he’s got what you need to find success at your financial institution. When he starts a new project, he looks at the challenges an organization is facing, then uses that information to come up with goals for the year. Siddharth aims to continue building successful cards programs for financial institutions. There’s nothing more rewarding than connecting with a new company, jumping into the data, and coming up with a plan to achieve financial goals quickly.

For more information about LEVERAGE Payment Solutions, visit https://leveragepaymentsolutions.com/ or contact a LEVERAGE Payment Solutions Consultant at consulting@myleverage.com.

Did you know that your credit union may be eligible to receive a tax credit of up to $26,000 per employee because of the CARES Act Employee Retention Tax Credit? LEVERAGE, OneDigital, and Synergi Partners can help your credit union with 25 or more employees get the most money back during this tax season. These are refundable payroll tax credits that can be used by the credit union in any manner to improve operations, facilities, or employee development.

To be eligible, your business must have been fully or partially suspended due to government orders OR experienced a reduction in year-over-year gross receipts of 50% in 2020 and 20% in 2021.

CU Audit & Compliance Group (CUACG) also offers a solution if your credit union has less than 25 employees. If your 2021 quarterly revenue dropped 20% from that same quarter in 2019 or if your 2020 quarterly revenue dropped 50% from that same quarter in 2019, you will be eligible for the Employee Retention Credit. CUACG will only look at a reduction in gross receipts in completing the Employee Retention Credit for Credit Unions.

For more information, visit https://myleverage.com/solutions/onedigital.php or contact a LEVERAGE Business Development Consultant at consult@myleverage.com or 955-9EXPERT (855-939-7378).

Our daily lives have changed drastically over the last decade, and how we interact with friends, family, colleagues, and even businesses looks very different. We’ve evolved to become digital-first beings, never far from a screen and driven to connect digitally. How has your organization responded to these changes? Perhaps adding some application forms or chat to your website and app? But how can you meet your members where they are—OnScreen—and provide an optimized, seamless experience?

In the age of consumer choice, members control the conversation and member service has become a key differentiator. Digital Member Service platforms, like Glia, can help you offer a seamless experience and improve satisfaction. Benefits of Digital Member Service include:

• ● Reducing member effort by meeting them where they are communicating
• ● Providing MSRs context to be more effective in resolving inquiries
• ● Increase conversion by offering contextual on- and off-screen guidance using the channel that the member chooses

Why Glia Digital Member Service Technology?

Glia provides digital-first member service technology that is reinventing how you support your members online. Unlike fragmented point solutions, Glia's platform was architected from the ground up to seamlessly unify all digital channels in an easy-to-use Digital Member Service solution that meets the security and scalability needs of the most discriminating financial institutions.

Glia enables representatives to engage with members where they are online, see their screens, and co-pilot them to resolve issues or complete applications without having to re-explain as they go.

Learn more here, and/or contact your LEVERAGE Business Development Consultant at consult@myleverage.com or 855-9EXPERT (855-939-7378), to request a personalized demonstration today.

We’re excited to welcome you to the new MembersATM.com!

We like our new look, and we hope you will too.

We wanted a digital experience as modern, convenient, and simple as our solution! We take the guesswork out of ATM management, so why not make it easier for you to see what we do?

Members ATM Alliance (MAA) is proud of the new look, so check it out and get in touch! We’d love the opportunity to tell you more about how outsourcing your ATM management can reduce your monthly operating expenses and save your most valuable resource… your time!

The cost and time to manage and operate an ATM network can be tremendous. In fact, research shows on average, an ATM costs a financial institution $2,200 per machine, per month to operate. In addition, each ATM requires 300+ hours per year in machine management and compliance. That’s a great deal of time and money that you could be spending on other initiatives!

By outsourcing your ATM processing to MAA, we can relieve you of this costly burden with our full suite of ATM management services.

To learn more information about MAA, visit our new website, MembersATM.com, or contact your LEVERAGE Business Development Consultant at consult@myleverage.com or 855-9EXPERT (855-939-7378).

Are you making the absolute most of your ability to portfolio lend? We have already seen a dramatic increase in mortgage rates from the historic lows of the past few years. If rates continue to increase over the next few years, loans will become more expensive for your members – and this will put pressure on your credit union’s growth. It will be important to look at all areas of your balance sheet and find strategies to grow your portfolio. Let’s examine how you can use your first mortgage portfolio products to better serve your current members, attract more new members, and manage your overall capital and long-term interest rate risk. With the 2020-21 markets in the rearview mirror, and considering all the major changes we’ve seen so far in 2022, is now the time to take action?

2020 and 2021 were outstanding years. According to the NCUA 5300 report, Credit unions experienced record deposit growth – 20.89% in 2020 and 12.90% in 2021. The average deposit per member increased from $10,970 in 2019 to $14,033 in 2021. With deposit growth outpacing lending, the loan-to-share ratio for credit unions dropped from 83.89% in 2019 to 69.86% in 2021. Portfolio mortgages is one direction that credit unions have turned to in order to help raise their loan-to-share. From 2019 to 2021 the percent of credit union first mortgages that are portfolio loans has risen from 38% to 44%.¹

As we enter an economic cycle during which the Fed will increase rates over the next few years, it will be important for credit unions to manage their interest rate risk, but at the same time, serve their members. One product that can provide both interest rate protection and reasonably priced loans for members is Adjustable-Rate Mortgages (ARM).

What is the 2022 mortgage market going to look like? Well, the refinance boom of 2020 and 2021 is over. Volume and margins have been cut in half, if not more. Competition for the remaining purchase business is fierce. To differentiate your first mortgage product offerings, a credit union must utilize its most powerful tool – its portfolio lending capability. Portfolio lending products shouldn’t be used just to close loans for members who don’t fit into standard Agency guidelines, but rather to identify unique borrower needs and proactively meet them with niche programs and loan products. Niche programs can help you earn your current members’ mortgages, as well as earn new members’ mortgages from referral sources in your community (including real estate agents, builders, SEGs, and direct consumer marketing).

What niche programs will help your members the most? Borrowers’ number one impediment to purchasing a home is coming up with the down payment. Most first-time homebuyers still believe they need to save 20% of the purchase price to buy a home. Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae have decent first-time homebuyer programs, but they certainly don’t meet every borrower’s need. Your portfolio program can help fill the voids. Focus on several first-time homebuyer programs that meet those needs.

Another option: The conforming loan limits for mortgages on one-unit properties to be acquired by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is $647,200, meaning many lenders won’t lean above that amount or will require higher down payments. This creates a tremendous opportunity for your credit union. You can offer a 97% Loan-to-Value (LTV) or a 95% LTV above conforming loan limits to meet this need. Sound risky? You can have your borrowers pay for Mortgage Insurance (MI), which reduces your exposure below 80% LTV while protecting the membership at large. A true win-win! Plus, MI rates have never been lower and more affordable.

Will your members accept ARMs or do they need 30-year fixed-rate loans? If you offer niche programs, you can align your offer with intermediate ARMs, such as a 5/5 or a 7/1 ARM. ARMs can offer your members lower pricing than 30-year fixed-rate loans, or you can align them with other niche programs. Your members will suddenly like your 5/5 ARM because they can’t obtain that program as a 30-year fixed-rate loan, and it can help them buy the home they love.

Where can you obtain these first mortgage originations? This niche program differentiates your credit union’s offerings from other first mortgage lenders your members may be considering. The products mentioned in this article can help you win your members’ loans and earn new member referrals from numerous sources. You can even recruit producing loan officers with unique portfolio offerings.

Like with car loans, numerous credit unions are winning new members and booking mortgages through first mortgage indirect purchase programs from independent mortgage bankers. These are just a few of the ways credit unions can capitalize on their main differentiator (portfolio lending) to earn purchase business in this new market.

Don’t let the new market of 2022 lower your loan-to-share ratio even more!

To learn about CUNA Mutual Group products and services, visit https://myleverage.com/solutions/cmg.php or contact a LEVERAGE Business Development Consultant at consult@myleverage.com or 955-9EXPERT (855-939-7378).