Monday, October 27, 2008

Time: Bad times for banks mean boom for CUs

NEW YORK (10/24/08)--Time magazine's website features a positive article on credit unions weathering the financial system crisis. The article is entitled "Bad Times for Banks Mean Boom Times for Credit Unions."

According to the article, business is booming for credit unions, with Texas Dow Employees CU doubling its real estate lending over the past five weeks and tracking a 405 to 605 growth in auto loans (Time.com Oct. 23). The credit union is getting calls from car dealerships who have been jilted by auto companies' financial arms.

Filene Research Institute Chief Research Officer George Hofheimer notes in the article that credit unions typically are conservative in good times --to the point of being boring and old-fashioned--but such practices are "just what the doctor ordered" in bad times.

Credit unions are making sure people are aware they are lending and are taking pre-emptive action to keep delinquencies down. Unitus Community CU in Portland, Ore., hired a work-out specialist to review loan data and make preemptive calls to members who might need help, "the sort of down-home, we-care solution credit unions sell themselves on," said the article.

courtesy of cuna.org

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