Silver State Schools Credit Union success story: Driving growth through embedded financing
Introduction
For more than 70 years, Silver State Schools Credit Union (SSSCU) has been a premier financial cooperative owned and operated by its members. With locations throughout the Las Vegas Valley, the $1.1 billion-asset credit union is committed to strengthening its community and supporting its neighbors. SSSCU is a major player in the indirect auto lending market and one of Origence’s largest lenders in Nevada using the CUDL platform.
Given this success, Origence recognized the credit union as well-positioned to expand its lending channels. Origence had recently launched a new subsidiary, FI Connect, to provide credit unions like SSSCU the opportunity to tap into top-of-funnel lending. SSSCU saw embedded financing as a strategic way to increase loans and grow membership. They partnered with Origence to leverage FI Connect, providing embedded financing options through retailers.
The Challenge: Retailer Accessibility
Indirect lending channels continue to evolve as more consumers shift to buying online. By 2025, online transactions are predicted to claim 30% of global vehicle sales according to a result report by Astute Analytica. As more buyers focus on the convenience of not only shopping online but finalizing their purchases, lenders are looking for new ways to enter this entry point of the process – including credit unions. The challenge? Accessibility.
National retailers have aimed for a simplified yet comprehensive financing experience for their buyers. They want financing options during the purchase process to ensure the purchase, but they also want a consistent and reliable workflow. They have accomplished this by offering fewer lenders. Instead of dealing with 1,200 lenders, they might work with 12 of the largest lenders. This approach streamlines their processes and ensures better control over the buyer experience.
Working with only a few credit unions isn’t realistic though. One credit union couldn’t handle the sheer volume of transactions from a national retailer and limited liquidity is an additional concern.
The challenge for credit unions like SSSCU became how to be more widely accessible to buyers during their the purchasing journey, when retailers only work with big box lenders.
That’s where FI Connect comes in. FI Connect could place SSSCU and other participating credit unions at the top of the sales funnel, where buyers are ready to finance their purchase.
The Solution: FI Connect
FI Connect provides a single point of integration for retailers. For consumers, the process is simple and works comparably to any other type of indirect loan. The buyer receives great rates and terms to finalize their purchase at the point of sale, and in this case, they become a credit union member if they don’t have a membership.
Behind the scenes, FI Connect seamlessly originates the loan purchases and places the loan with a participating credit union, such as SSSCU. FI Connect also determines membership and completes the membership task when needed. Since loans are transferred directly to the credit union, SSSCU has eliminated overhead expenses to market and originate.
FI Connect wanted to make the implementation a low lift for its credit union partners. SSSCU was already using Origence’s loan origination system, arc OS, which helped to speed up the process. After having initial talks in the summer of 2023, SSSCU was live by November 2023 and became one of the first credit unions to work with FI Connect. As an early adopter, SSSCU provided valuable feedback during the implementation process. FI Connect has relied on input from partners like SSSCU to help build and enhance the process for other credit unions.
Immediate Results
During its soft-launch period, SSSCU purchased more than $21 million in EV loans for more than 500 new members.
Long-term Rewards
Credit unions have a long history of being affordable lenders. As digital purchases grow, credit union financing must be available at the point of sale to remain competitive. With FI Connect, SSSCU can place itself at the center of a member’s buying journey, making financing options more accessible. Plus, credit unions retain their members’ loans by ensuring the financing comes through them instead of their competitors. FI Connect creates membership for non-members through this process contributing to membership growth.
FI Connect also enables this growth without requiring a significant investment in marketing and sales resources to fuel the growth. FI Connect has provided SSSCU with a new channel to grow loan volume and expand its reach—with no overhead expense.
Suggested first steps from Silver State Schools Credit Union’s Sr. Vice President Mel Valenzuela
Step 1
Know your true net yields and cost per loan and compare it to traditional indirect loans. This would include how often an employee touches a loan in the process and servicing costs.
Step 2
Embrace technology resources such as AI and be open to new workflows and ideas.
Step 3
Reach out to FI Connect and the Origence team and see how you can get started.
About FI Connect
FI Connect, an independent subsidiary of Origence, brings borrowers, retailers, and credit unions together for convenient financing right at the point of sale. FI Connect streamlines the lending experience for national retailers while offering wallet-friendly credit union financing options to borrowers. It’s a better financing experience as we connect and work together.
Follow us on LinkedIn.
About Origence
Origence provides lending technology solutions credit unions need to advance their total origination experience. We were established in 1994 as a credit union service organization (CUSO) and have helped thousands of credit unions process more than 88 million applications for $551 billion in funded loans. Our solutions include indirect lending, loan and account origination, auto shopping, marketing automation, lending operations, and more. Origence was named the 2023 CUSO of the year by NACUSO.
Learn more at origence.com and follow us on X and LinkedIn.