Author: Denise Wymore

CU Recovery, a PSCU company, recorded a record-breaking month in recoveries for its more than 850 credit union clients by collecting over $3 million in charged-off debt in March.

A full-service collections agency, CU Recovery is dedicated to maximizing recoveries on charged-off loans exclusively for credit unions. For more than 30 years, the company has worked with credit union members to resolve their debts, keeping a close pulse on economic, business and credit cycles, as well as changes in the regulatory environment.

“Overall, our goal is to focus on being there for our clients and their members as they adjust to evolving circumstances or events, and this rang even more true during 2020 as we collectively navigated the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Jack Lynch, chief risk officer at PSCU and president, CU Recovery. “One silver lining of the pandemic is consumers’ spending habits were forced to change when businesses and activities shut down. With the addition of stimulus checks, more people were able to begin paying off their debts. As we begin to look toward a post-pandemic world, we want credit unions and their members to know they have a trusted partner to assist them in resolving their obligations.”

The banner month of recoveries ultimately helped CU Recovery’s credit union clients fully recognize the expected return for the initial credit risk taken. When partnering with CU Recovery, not only do credit unions gain more recoveries, which results in better returns, but they also receive a member-focused and compliant partner to assist them in recovering charged-off debt, which is always a function of lending.

Continue reading PSCU’s CU Recovery Collects More than $3 Million on Behalf of Credit Union Clients, Setting New Record in March

PSCU, the nation’s premier payments credit union service organization (CUSO), has announced the launch of the PSCU Payments Index, the next evolution of the CUSO’s successful consumer payments trend analysis. In this new monthly publication, PSCU will provide its credit unions and the broader market with timely data, analysis and thought leadership to help make informed, strategic decisions.

As the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have surpassed the one-year mark, year-over-year performance trends are now influenced by the significant shifts in consumer behavior experienced over the past year. Following the success of PSCU’s Transaction Insights, a weekly analysis comparing year-over-year transactions from its Owner credit union members to identify the impact of COVID-19 on consumer spending and shopping trends that was published from March 2020 through March 2021, the new monthly PSCU Payments Index uses 2019 purchasing history as a baseline comparison for 2021 results, as well as a comparison to 2020. This three-year view provides both a pre-pandemic comparison and insight into how consumer behavior continues to evolve since the impacts of 2020.

Continue reading PSCU Launches Monthly Payments Index to Track Consumer Behavior and Payments Trends

PSCU, the nation’s premier payments credit union service organization (CUSO), has announced current Owners Honolulu Federal Credit Union (HOCU) and HFS Federal Credit Union(HFS) have expanded their partnerships with the CUSO, while Pearl Hawaii Federal Credit Union (Pearl Hawaii) has joined the cooperative as a new Owner. All three will partner with PSCU for credit and debit processing services.

“PSCU is extremely proud to continue to grow our Owner base in Hawaii through these existing and new partnerships,” said Scott Wagner, EVP, chief revenue officer at PSCU. “When long-term Owners like Honolulu Federal Credit Union and HFS Federal Credit Union choose to extend their working relationship with us, it is a testament to the continued trust and value they place in our CUSO. In addition, we are eager to welcome Pearl Hawaii Federal Credit Union to the PSCU family, and look forward to providing an unparalleled member experience, cutting-edge technology and high-quality services to this new credit union partner.”

Headquartered in Honolulu and holding more than $302 million in assets, HOCU has expanded its partnership with PSCU to add debit processing support, along with its current credit services. The credit union’s decision was based on PSCU’s leading-edge technology and its focus on providing exceptional service, all while looking out for the best interests of credit union members and employees and embracing HOCU’s culture. PSCU will begin providing debit services to HOCU’s more than 18,000 members in Q4 2021.

“PSCU has provided outstanding service to our members and employees as our credit card processor for well over a decade,” said Mark Munemitsu, CEO of HOCU. “The addition of debit support services will not only strengthen our card portfolio performance, but it will also provide a higher level of member service as our cards program will all be with one processor.”

HFS (Hilo, Hawaii) was seeking a full-service credit and debit card provider with leading products and services. Following a competitive review process, HFS – which holds more than $708 million in assets – selected PSCU as a result of the organizations’ successful contact center partnership. The CUSO will begin providing credit and debit processing services and support to nearly 52,000 HFS members in July 2021 and July 2022, respectively.

“When seeking a debit and credit processing partner, we were looking for a company that could provide the best products, but – equally as important – we wanted to build a strong working relationship,” said HFS Manager of Administration James Staub. “We appreciate the sincerity of the PSCU staff and their eagerness to serve our credit union. After looking at several other card vendor solutions, we knew PSCU was the right choice for us.”

With more than 30,000 members and $428 million in assets, Pearl Hawaii (Waipahu, Hawaii) conducted a review process for a credit and debit processor, finding its ideal partner in PSCU. The credit union will convert its credit and debit services to PSCU in the fall of 2021.

“From superior member-facing and back-office platforms, to industry-leading marketing and analytics and fraud monitoring tools, all of PSCU’s offerings and services were aligned with our goals and expectations in a card processing partner,” said John Furtado, senior vice president of Pearl Hawaii. “The bottom line is that we felt PSCU had a better product than the other vendors, and we look forward to kicking off our work with the team this summer.”

“We are thrilled by the opportunity to work alongside the Pearl Hawaii team,” said Brian Scott, SVP, chief growth officer of PSCU. “PSCU is excited to continue expanding our presence in the state of Hawaii and working with all three of these credit unions to enable growth and provide an unparalleled member experience.”

About PSCU

PSCU, the nation’s premier payments CUSO, supports the success of 1,500 credit unions representing more than 5.4 billion transactions annually. Committed to service excellence and focused on innovation, PSCU’s payment processing, risk management, data and analytics, loyalty programs, digital banking, marketing, strategic consulting and mobile platforms help deliver possibilities and seamless member experiences. Comprehensive, 24/7/365 member support is provided by contact centers located throughout the United States. The origin of PSCU’s model is collaboration and scale, and the company has leveraged its influence on behalf of credit unions and their members for more than 40 years. Today, PSCU provides an end-to-end, competitive advantage that enables credit unions to securely grow and meet evolving consumer demands. For more information, visit pscu.com. 

Credit Union Partners Reinforce Commitment to Enable Expansion of Services

Constellation Digital Partners, a Credit Union Service Organization (CUSO), has recently completed its second round of funding, securing $18 million from its original Class A investors. The additional funding reflects the investors’ commitment to the success of  Constellation and enables the expansion of its service solutions, increased scaling deployment  through additional implementation teams and the ability to now provide solutions to all credit unions (beyond original investors).

Constellation is a unique open-development platform that disrupts the encumbering legacy structure of credit union relationships with their core technology provider. The platform allows credit unions to access a variety of financial services in order to offer members enhanced digital experiences. With a fully-realized platform and cloud-based ecosystem built, this recent funding round expands Constellation’s ability to offer additional services increasing the credit union industry’s ability to compete.

“With this new funding, our investors are reinforcing their commitment to owning their digital future,” said Kris Kovacs, president and chief executive officer of Constellation. “They recognize the incredible progress we have made and have further invested  to continue the drive toward their innovative ends.”

“We believe Constellation and its open banking platform is a huge step toward modernizing the credit union industry,” said Keith Sultemeier, president and chief executive officer of Kinecta Credit Union. “Constellation gives us easy and rapid collaboration with the Fintech community and other innovators from within the credit union industry.”

While this second round of funding has closed, subsequent Constellation CUSO investment opportunities are now open to additional credit unions interested in innovative digital solutions independence. To learn more about Constellation, visit www.constellation.coop.

About Constellation Digital Partners, LLC:

Constellation has created the first open development platform – providing a patented, secure and flexible cloud-based ecosystem that enables credit unions and innovative app developers to provide safe, reliable, and next-generation digital financial service experiences. Giving credit unions the freedom to compete, innovate, and thrive in the financial services industry redefines what they offer, delivering digital financial services in a way that enables them to place members at the center of their business strategy. Constellation also won the 2017 NACUSO Next Big Idea Award. Visit www.constellation.coop to learn more. And, connect with Constellation on Twitter, Instagram (@ConstellationDP), Facebook and LinkedIn.

The National Association of Credit Union Services Organizations (NACUSO), the only trade association focused on growing and protecting the CUSO movement, welcomed Nymbus CUSO as a Gold Partner.

“We are excited to welcome Nymbus CUSO and newly named President John Janclaes to NACUSO,” said Jack Antonini, CEO of NACUSO.  “John has an impressive resume that includes President and CEO of Partners Credit Union where he grew the assets five-fold to more than $2.1 billion while providing outstanding service to their members.”

Nymbus CUSO was founded to help credit unions meet industry challenges.  Its mission is to break through barriers to growth by connecting credit unions with trusted fintech offerings that enable opportunities for generating new revenue streams while deepening connections and value to members.

“To thrive in the new digital age, credit unions have an immediate opportunity to leverage niche digital banking approaches to create new revenue streams and expand reach while continuing to deliver the personalized experiences and differentiated value they are known for,” said Janclaes. “I’m proud to lead Nymbus CUSO and continue my mission as a digital advocate for credit unions in their quest for growth and forward-thinking strategies.”

About NACUSO

The National Association of Credit Union Service Organizations was formed in 1985 to help credit unions explore the use of CUSOs and the delivery of non-traditional products and services. Over the years, NACUSO’s focus has evolved to educating credit unions on the benefits of collaboration, helping credit unions find innovative collaborative partners & solutions, helping CUs form multi-owned CUSOs that help credit unions achieve economies of scale, risk reduction and obtain expertise, as well as being the collaboration focused regulatory & legislative advocate for CUSOs and their credit union owners.