Generations Federal Credit Union expanded its servicing — which includes auto lending — into seven counties last week, said Jack Curtis, the company’s senior vice president of retail lending. However, it will take a “a slow approach” to opening additional branches, he added.
The servicing expansion does not affect its branch locations as of yet, he said. The San Antonio, Texas-based credit union operates 14 branches in Bexar County, and will take “a slow approach” to opening additional branches, Curtis added.
The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) — which approved Generations for the expansion — “expects you to get to know marketplace first and determine where the need is,” before opening additional branches, Curtis said. Some counties have zero credit unions and some have four, “so we need to look at those places more, and it’s a slow process,” he said. “If we are going to open additional branches, it’s not going to happen within six months.”
Generations expects the expansion “to generate more demand overall and more opportunities,” Curtis said. “As we expand in the markets, we expect to be able to serve a broader member base. In general, we expect that to have a positive impact on our auto loan volume as we go into those markets.”
The same week Generations Federal Credit Union received approval for the county expansion, it launched CUDirect’s Credit Union Direct Lending AutoSMART program. The new online auto-finder resource allows members to research, compare, read reviews, and receive trade-in values on thousands of vehicles in one place before applying for a loan, according to a company press release. The AutoSMART program simplifies the process by linking the credit union’s online auto loan application directly on the AutoSMART website.
