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Where are lending decisions made at your credit union? More credit unions are moving to centralized lending, where most employees take a loan application, while others make the underwriting decisions.
This topic was hot on CUES Net^sup TM^ recently after Jeffrey A. Disterhoft, president/CEO of $190 million The University of Iowa Community Credit Union, with 40,000 members in Iowa City, Iowa, asked for feedback on centralized lending.
"I've spoken with a few credit unions that have changed their operations to have basically anyone (loan interviewers and member service) take a loan application, queue it up on their system, and have a smaller group of lenders make the underwriting decision," he wrote. "For those folks that either used or are currently using centralized lending, what are your likes, dislikes, things you'd do differently, etc? "
CONSISTENCY
Several respondents said having more consistent loan decisions was a reason for switching to a centralized system. With loan officers scattered throughout branches, decisions can be all over the board. The credit union can end up in situations like the one Michael Poulos, former president/CEO of $640 million, 68,000-member Tyndall Federal Credit Union,...