When Abound Credit Union decided to modernize their digital consumer loan origination experience, member benefits were top of mind. In partnership with Clutch, the impact of their transformation extended further than they imagined.
Abound was seeking a solution to a clunky member application experience that was causing abandonment. What they found with Clutch offered business value that extended way past that scope.
With over $2B in assets, 18 branches, and a passion to promote financial wellness to members in Kentucky, Indiana and Tennessee, 74 years young Abound Credit Union has put their consumer loan program in turbo mode.
The prior online application solution was fine for getting the job done, but digital processes needed to be improved to drive more direct loan growth, and diversify a portfolio heavy in indirect, commercial and real estate loans.
Jake Darabos - Abound’s Chief Finance & Administration Officer explained that “Loan applications [especially from non members] were cumbersome and difficult; causing a lot of abandonment. They’d [applicants] end up somewhere else, probably paying significantly more than they would with a credit union. It’s was a disservice to the people in the communities we serve”
“People are looking for easy; they’re looking for fast… nobody does it easier or faster than Clutch as far as the digital application process goes“
Chuck Eads
Chief Lending Officer
Abound entered into their tech solution evaluation through the lens of member impact. After initial demos from several technology providers, they began a journey mapping exercise and quickly realized the operational benefits that were on the table.
“From a technology perspective, Abound is always looking for ways to improve member service” Chuck Eads - Chief Lending Officer; but improved member service and digital experiences leads to growth…and growth without efficiency negates the economies of scale that technology should generate.
When describing their first impression of Clutch, Chuck said “wow! This is amazing” and has since been delighted with the results.
“Clutch delivered what they promised - increased digital applications, increased funded loans, better pull through, more self-served cross sells - everything they [Clutch] said would happen, has happened”
Abound initially rolled out auto, credit card and personal loans. Since seeing success across every key performance indicator, they’ve added lines of credit, motorcycles, and RV loans - Clutch is supporting digital origination across the entire consumer lending suite.
Shawna Broyles - Marketing Manager at Abound, seconds Chuck’s sentiment. “Abound partnered with Clutch to drive loan growth, improve efficiencies of our online loan process, and provide that ‘wow factor’ with our digital loan application experience. We now provide a unique personalized experience that’s more impactful and engaging; fostering a genuine connection to our members”
Tosha Tucker - Director of Consumer Lending has observed a shift in the way that loan products are delivered to members. Prior to partnering with Clutch, Abound prided themselves on helping members with their loan request with the highest levels of service and responsiveness. Their attention to service delivery remains front and center, but they’ve become more proactive; not only responding to the immediate inbound credit request, but surfacing additional opportunities to help members with other loans.
Chuck Eads - Chief Lending Officer summarized the Clutch partnership as “a win all around” if “people are looking for easy; looking for fast…nobody does it easier or faster than Clutch as far as the digital application process goes”
"The members seem to really enjoy it; the ease in the application process…it’s been great!”
Kerri - call center
“It [Clutch] let’s me focus on what’s really important, at the end of the day, it’s people helping people”
Alicia - Abound
“We make initial contact and they’re practically already approved - we’re good to go - we can process them so much faster”
Lyndsey - call center
As far as Clutch is concerned, everyone in the US should look to a credit union as their primary provider of financial services. Nicky Hinrichsen, Clutch Co-founder passionately believes Credit unions should be the lifeblood of consumer finance; the obvious first choice for every financial need - for every American.
Despite their member centricity, service constitution, competitive pricing and access to relevant products, consumers are wooed by the simplicity, brands, and ease of use of fintechs and digital banks.
Jake Darabos - Chief Finance & Administration Officer is right there with him “[Clutch] dispels the inaccuracy in the industry that credit unions don’t have the technology that big banks have”
With technology that wows members, makes it easier for employees to focus on member’s objectives, turbo charges loan and deposit growth and optimizes operational efficiency, it’s hard not to acknowledge the unfair competitive advantage that credit unions have at their fingertips - transforming digitally isn’t as difficult as it may have once been.
Clutch partners exclusively with credit unions and are acutely familiar with the change management processes involved in deploying new technology solutions; because so many credit unions share combinations of similar tech stacks, that path to success is pre-built, repeatable, and predictable.
Nicky (Clutch CEO and Co-founder) has invested deeply in customer success and speed to value; “the technology and results speak for themselves, the risk of dissatisfaction with a partnership is weighted more towards the unknowns that can arise in implementation. Well resourced experts who can collaborate and solve problems quickly are huge contributors to our [Clutch’s] expanding list of happy clients.”
“It seemed like a smaller project than we’ve taken on before. The [Clutch] team was great to work with right from the start, through implementation - and even now they’re super responsiveness”
“The project was fairly quick and easy, and the team was there to answer any questions that came up during testing”
“The Clutch team was great in the way they led us through the implementation - the support from Clutch has been phenomenal. They make us feel like we’re their only client”
Clutch is on a mission to turn credit unions in to Fintechs; helping to make credit unions the obvious choice for every consumer’s financial needs.
To learn more about how Clutch can advance your digital transformation strategy, please contact us at sales@withclutch.com
Our thanks to the team at Abound Credit Unions for sharing their experience with us.