July 23, 2025

This One Strategy Took Lending From Good to Great

This One Strategy Took Lending From Good to Great
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Rising vehicle prices, longer loan terms, and shrinking margins. As credit unions adapt, standing out requires more than competitive rates. It takes consistency, clarity, and a lending team built for speed and service.In this episode, host Barry Roach sits down with Adam Brice, Chief Lending Officer at EFCU Financial, to unpack how his team reimagined consumer lending from the ground up. From creating a centralized loan contact center to balancing common sense with emerging tech, Adam shares what it really takes to grow a high-performing, resilient lending strategy.Join us as we discuss:

  • What happens when you move your best loan officers out of branches.
  • How EFCU maintained low charge-offs while doubling down on auto.
  • The ripple effects of extended terms and negative equity.
  • How AI can strengthen, not replace, sound underwriting.
  • Why NIL deals and financial literacy can drive deeper community impact.
WEBVTT

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Hello, and welcome to Leaders in Lending, brought to you

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by Upstart. I'm your host, Barry Roach, and I'm happy

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to be joined today by Adam Brice, the chief lending

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officer at EFCU Financial in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

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Now.

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Adam's first visit to the podcast was in late twenty

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twenty two, and he talked about advances and enterwriting technologies

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and how that fits with a common sense approach to lending.

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In today's episode, Adam's sharing his views on today's auto

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lending environment and how credit unions can adapt to capture

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market share. Adam also talks about how credit unions play

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a big part in supporting their community and shares how

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EFCU Financial has teamed up with local universities to help

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students improve their financial literacy. Thank you for listening. Let's

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get started.

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I'm doing good, Barry.

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I'm happy to be on the podcast and I'm looking

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forward to going through some different questions with you.

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How are you today, I'm good. Thanks, thanks for joining us. So, Adam,

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you were on the pod in December of twenty twenty two.

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What's changed between now and then? Probably a lot of

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things on the lending side, I mean you would talk

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back then around some shifts and indirect auto lending, and

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if you think about at that time period, we were

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still kind of coming out of the pandemic and some

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of the supply chain issues that had been happening back then,

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and that was certainly impacting auto lending and credit unis

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and other financial services. What shifts have you seen really

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in in indirect auto lending since that time period, you know,

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going back two and a half years or so.

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There has been a couple of shifts. And you know,

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I'd made a prediction kind of during and after COVID

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that I thought the days of full car lots and

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you know, plenty of inventory and the lots, I thought

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those days are done because you saw the way that

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dealerships were handling business during the COVID times. You could

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do some dealerships only had five, six, seven, eight, nine,

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nine units in a lot and they were having record profits,

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record months. And when you have a bunch of inventory

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sitting on the lot, I mean, as you know, that's

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just interest running and that's just a lot of expenses

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there that's just sitting on the lot. You know, not

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nothing's really happening to those expenses. But now, you know,

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as we fast forward to twenty twenty five and I

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kind of look around our area, dealerships are full backup

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of inventory. There's plenty of inventory just about every dealership

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that I see. So that shift that I thought we

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were going to see of you know, units and inventory

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being a little bit less, you know, it's it's it's

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kind of not happened, and it's come back to seeing

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full lots, full inventory. And then you know, you're seeing

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some captives kind of move away from from indirect lending.

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You've seen some kind of re enter the market. And

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I think especially here in our area in Louisiana, insurance

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is always going to be a big factor because we

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are in a natural disaster prone area like Batono's Louisiana

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and Southern Louisiana in general, insurance is always going to be,

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you know, a big issue, and that it's been a

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big issue for some of our members, you know, being

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able to obtain insurance, whether it be auto or home,

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you know, just because of some of the natural disasters

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that we've seen in this area over the past eight

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to ten years.

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Right right, So, really, I guess to summarize a lot

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of the supply chain issues have seemed to have abated,

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where we're back to seeing some some lots that are

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full again. What else do you attribute that to, though,

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because I mean, let's face it, cars are lasting a

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lot longer now than they were maybe when you and

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I started driving, right, you know, the the average life

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of a of a car or a carburetor for example,

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didn't seem to last all that long, and nowadays are

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just manufactured in such a way that that they just

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last a little longer. I mean, are you seeing that

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on the used car side, that that's having an impact

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on sort of valuations for in your underrating processes, or

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changes in maybe some of the consumer behaviors around that.

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I think we're saying some change in the consumer behavior.

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I think people are holding on to their vehicles a

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little bit longer. You know, valuations have certainly increased, especially

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especially during COVID and moving on through the years now

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in twenty twenty five, but you kind of see, you

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kind of can look around and people are holding onto

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their vehicles a little longer, even you know, our portfolio

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in general, you know, we see people kind of holding on,

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holding on to vehicles just a little bit longer than

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they typically have, and it's you know, it's resulted in

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you know, people using their vehicles a little bit more.

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They're they're running them a little bit harder, and then

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when you get to the time where they do get

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the trade typically you know, they've put a little bit

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more miles on the vehicles that we've seen, and we've

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seen you know, negative equity climbing a little bit. And

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I think there's that's a that's kind of a two

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pronged answer there, because I think with some of the

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valuations that we've seen, you know, during COVID and kind

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of after COVID, UH, the valuations are extremely high, and

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I think you've seen some of that level out over

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the past couple of years now. So when people were

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puying you know, two and three years ago, and now

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they're coming to that you know, thirty six thirty eight

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months on frame where we're seeing the standard you know,

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member come in to trade a vehicle in. They're their

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their equities a little bit, a little bit more negative

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than they're maybe accustomed to because of the valuations at

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that time that we were seeing a few years back.

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Sure, yeah, I remember in twenty one and twenty two.

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I was working at credit unions of the time and

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we're looking at valuations that were coming in because used

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car values is shot through the roof and thinking, well,

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that's great, what's the residual value going to be if

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I have to collect on this thing in two or

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three years? And from talking to collections professionals across our industry,

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they're kind of seeing that happening right now, that, as

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you said, a lot of negative equity, and if someone

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does have some sort of financial misfortune that makes them

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not able to make those payments anymore, not a lot

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of value left after repoll. Have you experienced something similar

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to that down in your region?

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Yeah, we have, And I think that's something else to

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be talked about is the longer terms now here, especially

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in the Baton Rouge area, and eighty four more term

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is barely standard. That represents probably over half of our

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half of our monthly indirect business is in the eighty

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four month terms. So with the higher value, the higher terms,

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that neck of equity is kind of getting pushed a

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little bit further and further. And when people do come

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into trade, not only are they a little more upside

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down because the evaluation may be a little bit higher

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when they purchased in twenty one, twenty twenty two, but

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then maybe they signed on for an eighty four month term,

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So really you're into the forty eight to sixty month

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area of that term of the loan. You've not paid

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as much principle as you may have originally paid, you know,

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in prior loans, because let's be honest, seventy two month

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was kind of that standard, that standard loan term now

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and then now the eighty four month term is just

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so so much standard, especially for us and in our area.

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It certainly that's what drives a lot of volume in

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our market, and a lot of them I think can

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be you know, it can be attributed to a vehicle

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prices have gotten a lot more higher and a lot

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more expensive. People are still trying to keep up with

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the joneses, you know, and trying to They're shopping more

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payment conscious where versus maybe what's more practical for them,

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and so well, we can get a lower payment if

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we stretch out the term to say eighty four months,

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and that's what we're seeing a little bit of now,

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and I think people were ultimately starting to pay the

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price for it, you know, as they're come and do,

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whether they're training the vehicle in or if they're struggling

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making their payments. And what happens is the negative equity

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is so high that when a vehicle does get turned

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in for a repo, or it gets you know, there's

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a wreck or something in an accident, the DA gets totaled,

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the value is just not there. I can share my

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own personal story. My wife and I bought a vehicle

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in October of twenty twenty one, right when the vehicle

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value craze is really kind of getting getting a little wild.

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The clean trade on that vehicle was forty three thousand.

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In January the following year, which is about four months later,

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I pulled the value in her vehicle and the vehicle

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had jumped up in value to fifty one thousand dollars.

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I have never in my life, and I've been in

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lending now over fifteen years, I've never in my life

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seeing a car appreciate in value the way like that.

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That did.

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Much less cars genuinely appreciating period, but for it to

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appreciate almost you know, twenty five percent was just astronomical

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in my opinion. And that's just a one sample it's

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a one off deal of one vehicle. It was like

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that for thousands of thousands of vehicles and thousands of

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thousands of members who are feeling that effect. And now

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you know, a year and a half later after that,

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the value had significantly dropped. And I think that's what

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you're seeing now with the negative equity and the people

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trying to trade in with longer terms.

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Now sure, I mean, think of this this low rate

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environment atom that we enjoyed in the auto landing space,

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I should say we as lenders. It was tough for us,

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but as purchasers, as borrowers, it was great. There were

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two ninety nine auto loans pretty much available for you

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know what, like a six or seven year period like that, right,

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So that was you talk about when values were up

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at the end of twenty one into twenty two. That

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was kind of the end of that era if you

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think about it, because inflation started and then interest rates

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started to pop up. So those two ninety nine auto

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loan deals now are six ninety nine And can I

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afford Can I afford that fifty thousand dollars car in

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a seventy two month term? Probably not anymore. That's why

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it's it starts out to eighty four and then you

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have the add on products. Right, So there's some sort

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of a if there's gap or some sort of a

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other sort of mechanical breakdown assurance or something like that.

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So has that has that meant that EFCU has had

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to sort of change aspects of your underwriting policies or

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the way that you're looking at the asset or are

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you sort of weighing the asset versus the borer quality

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any differently now than you would have been, say, two

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three years ago.

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I'll be honest with you.

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We we weigh it kind of the same as we

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did two or three years ago. It's just kind of

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a natural progression that you know, collateral and inventory has

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taken and we've kind of just naturally kind of gone

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with it. One of the things that I preached our

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underwriting teams is consistency. You know, what we approved to

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day is what we will approve tomorrow and what we

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will approve next week. And in order for us to

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be and for us to stay consistent and to be

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so successful that we are in indirect lending, it helps

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the dealers understand that they know, hey, EFCU is gonna

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buy this deal, you know, next week or today or tomorrow.

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And that's helped really a lot with our progression indirect lending,

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our protection and consumer lending is just staying consistent across

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the board, and you know, always, you know doing you

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know what's right, what's the best interest to the member,

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and what's just in the best interest.

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In the credit union.

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If if the loan makes sense, I can promise you

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we're going to do it regardless one way or another.

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If it makes sense, we will do the loan.

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And we've seen that kind of consistency play out, you know,

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from time and time and again with our portfolio. Our

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loan portfolio has been outstanding. We have some of the

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lowest delinquency in the state of Louisiana. Our charge off

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numbers are some of the lowest charge off numbers in

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the state Louisiana. And I really preach that to the

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consistency and to the underwriting soundness and reviews that we

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consistently do day and day out.

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Right now, you use a common sense approach with that, Adam.

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I remember from your last pod you talked about that

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that certainly you've got your underrating policy, your general lending

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policy specific policies for auto loans, and then you use

236
00:11:11.960 --> 00:11:15.600
technology for the underrating process, so you're not just relying

237
00:11:15.720 --> 00:11:20.440
on on just sort of a credit score or you know,

238
00:11:20.480 --> 00:11:24.960
there's multiple aspects of the credits. The border was credit

239
00:11:25.000 --> 00:11:28.559
worthiness that you're looking at. So has that had to

240
00:11:28.639 --> 00:11:30.960
change any at all in these past few years or

241
00:11:31.200 --> 00:11:35.679
is common sense still very much a critical component of

242
00:11:35.759 --> 00:11:38.200
your underating process as you're looking at each board where

243
00:11:38.200 --> 00:11:39.120
that comes through your system.

244
00:11:40.159 --> 00:11:42.879
Common sense lending is still the number one priority here

245
00:11:42.879 --> 00:11:46.080
at Ecuminans. We're doing loans at the end of the day,

246
00:11:46.080 --> 00:11:49.000
and I tell my underwriters this, if you can answer

247
00:11:49.080 --> 00:11:51.960
this question, and that question is will this loan be

248
00:11:52.039 --> 00:11:54.960
repaid as agreed? And if you can answer that question

249
00:11:55.639 --> 00:11:57.559
and you can answer yes to it, then we should

250
00:11:57.559 --> 00:11:59.320
be doing that loan because at the end of the day,

251
00:11:59.559 --> 00:12:01.159
you know we're roll us what the loan is for.

252
00:12:01.720 --> 00:12:03.399
If if you know that the loan is going to

253
00:12:03.399 --> 00:12:06.360
be repaid back and you can say yes to that question,

254
00:12:06.759 --> 00:12:08.480
then you should be doing that loan. You should be

255
00:12:08.480 --> 00:12:11.039
figuring out a way how to do that loan, whether

256
00:12:11.159 --> 00:12:13.759
you know, making an exception to a policy or a procedure.

257
00:12:14.720 --> 00:12:16.080
You know because at the end of the day, you know,

258
00:12:16.120 --> 00:12:18.919
it's all about you know, the bar's repayment ability, and

259
00:12:19.000 --> 00:12:21.600
if they have the ability to repay and you can

260
00:12:21.679 --> 00:12:24.200
answer yes to say they're going to repay this loan,

261
00:12:24.360 --> 00:12:25.720
then you should be able to do the loan. And

262
00:12:25.759 --> 00:12:28.039
that's kind of the typical practice that we take here

263
00:12:28.080 --> 00:12:30.759
at the Credit UNIITYFC Financial and that's how we've kind

264
00:12:30.759 --> 00:12:32.799
of always kind of worked in that way for the

265
00:12:32.840 --> 00:12:34.080
past ten to twelve years.

266
00:12:34.559 --> 00:12:35.639
And you know, I will.

267
00:12:35.480 --> 00:12:37.960
Say that it seems like a very good approach for us,

268
00:12:38.679 --> 00:12:41.840
but you know, to say that is always going to

269
00:12:41.879 --> 00:12:43.960
be the same way, no, because we're going to be

270
00:12:44.000 --> 00:12:47.120
looking at some type of AI uh, you know software

271
00:12:47.159 --> 00:12:49.360
here in the future. You know, we may be looking

272
00:12:49.360 --> 00:12:52.480
at zest or Synaptics or maybe some other type of

273
00:12:52.480 --> 00:12:54.519
AI vendor to kind of you know, move forward with

274
00:12:54.519 --> 00:12:57.039
our you know, with our lending uh and move into

275
00:12:57.039 --> 00:13:01.519
some more automation, some efficiencies driving automatic decisions right right.

276
00:13:01.519 --> 00:13:03.240
And which is I think a smart way of doing it.

277
00:13:03.360 --> 00:13:06.559
You can still retain that common sense judgment which is necessary,

278
00:13:07.159 --> 00:13:10.960
but the ability to have consistency with common sense lending.

279
00:13:11.600 --> 00:13:14.120
You and I both know, like we people are going

280
00:13:14.120 --> 00:13:17.799
to have a different perspectives as they may look at

281
00:13:17.960 --> 00:13:20.240
at a loan application. You may look at differently than

282
00:13:20.279 --> 00:13:22.840
I would than someone else would, And I think that's

283
00:13:22.879 --> 00:13:26.320
where maybe AI comes in to assist with putting some

284
00:13:26.320 --> 00:13:29.879
guardrails around what that underwriting criteria would be. And I

285
00:13:29.960 --> 00:13:32.919
know that IFCU is also looking at at other ways

286
00:13:32.919 --> 00:13:36.000
to sort of gain more consistency around that lending decision.

287
00:13:36.039 --> 00:13:38.039
So maybe you can start of share with our audience

288
00:13:38.039 --> 00:13:41.639
a little bit about how you've you've changed how you're

289
00:13:41.679 --> 00:13:45.840
looking at lending in branches and now I have more

290
00:13:45.840 --> 00:13:48.799
of a centralized aspect of that. So maybe maybe take

291
00:13:48.879 --> 00:13:49.960
us through that a little if you could.

292
00:13:50.399 --> 00:13:54.080
Yeah, absolutely So last year, in the middle of the year,

293
00:13:54.639 --> 00:13:56.960
we decided that we wanted to create a loan contact

294
00:13:57.039 --> 00:14:00.320
center and basically some of the things that we seeing

295
00:14:00.360 --> 00:14:02.919
the branches where you know, we had you know, forty

296
00:14:02.919 --> 00:14:05.120
five to fifty different loan officers in the branches.

297
00:14:05.600 --> 00:14:07.559
Some of them wanted to do loans, someone would rather

298
00:14:07.639 --> 00:14:09.559
just be be a teller and a worker box.

299
00:14:09.840 --> 00:14:11.679
Some of them have be a headteller and other ones

300
00:14:11.720 --> 00:14:14.840
wanted to work different duties and we kind of recognized

301
00:14:14.840 --> 00:14:16.840
this and we could see it in our lending numbers.

302
00:14:16.840 --> 00:14:19.200
We could see it in our debt protection numbers and

303
00:14:19.240 --> 00:14:22.039
our ancillary product numbers. With the gap and warranty, you

304
00:14:22.080 --> 00:14:24.519
can kind of see certain people who would really, you know,

305
00:14:24.600 --> 00:14:26.639
really relish in that fact that they got to, you know,

306
00:14:26.840 --> 00:14:29.879
cross selling loans and really succeed in some of those things.

307
00:14:29.879 --> 00:14:32.320
But then we had others who were a little bit inconsistent.

308
00:14:33.120 --> 00:14:35.600
You know, their volume wasn't wasn't being driven as high

309
00:14:35.720 --> 00:14:37.679
by you know, motivation. They would rather do, you know,

310
00:14:37.720 --> 00:14:40.120
some different things. So what we decided to do as

311
00:14:40.159 --> 00:14:43.039
a credit union was create a loan contact Center. So

312
00:14:43.120 --> 00:14:45.120
what we did was we put out, you know, some

313
00:14:45.240 --> 00:14:48.159
job descriptions for you know, we wanted to bring in

314
00:14:48.360 --> 00:14:50.519
five to seven of the best loan officers that we

315
00:14:50.559 --> 00:14:53.639
had in the branches, centralized them here at our operations

316
00:14:53.679 --> 00:14:55.840
center where they would just focus.

317
00:14:55.519 --> 00:14:58.000
On loans and branch loans all day every day.

318
00:14:58.679 --> 00:15:01.399
We've created a kiosk kind of a kiosk center in

319
00:15:01.440 --> 00:15:04.559
each branch where we have a computer station there where

320
00:15:04.600 --> 00:15:07.679
a member can do they can do live live in

321
00:15:07.840 --> 00:15:10.039
video with the with the one of the Loan Contacts

322
00:15:10.039 --> 00:15:12.360
Center REPS here at Operations Center They can also do

323
00:15:12.879 --> 00:15:14.799
a remote video from a cell phone. So if they're

324
00:15:14.799 --> 00:15:16.639
at their house and they want to have a video

325
00:15:16.679 --> 00:15:19.000
conference with one of our loan contacts and reps, they

326
00:15:19.039 --> 00:15:21.879
can easily log on and have a video chat from

327
00:15:21.879 --> 00:15:24.159
their house with one of our contacts iner reps. And

328
00:15:24.200 --> 00:15:26.240
basically what this is doing is we're filtering all of

329
00:15:26.279 --> 00:15:31.120
our consumer lending origination into six different people and six representatives,

330
00:15:31.159 --> 00:15:34.480
six of our loan experts. So instead of training forty

331
00:15:34.519 --> 00:15:36.440
to fifty different people, we're training you know, six to

332
00:15:36.480 --> 00:15:39.240
eight people and it's just loans all day, every day.

333
00:15:39.399 --> 00:15:41.840
That's all they do. We're training, they get training the

334
00:15:41.879 --> 00:15:47.000
heavy train on ancillary products, debt protection, you know, cross selling,

335
00:15:47.080 --> 00:15:49.879
you know, identifying opportunities on credit reports, you know, to

336
00:15:49.919 --> 00:15:52.519
make cross sells. And this has been, you know, one

337
00:15:52.559 --> 00:15:54.399
of the things that we were really targeting because we

338
00:15:54.440 --> 00:15:57.519
really wanted to see our consumer lending numbers really get

339
00:15:57.519 --> 00:15:58.120
a good boost.

340
00:15:58.120 --> 00:15:59.360
We wanted to see some of.

341
00:15:59.320 --> 00:16:02.200
Our net interesting margin get a boost, and we were

342
00:16:02.240 --> 00:16:05.320
struggling with some of those things like debt protection, answer products,

343
00:16:05.399 --> 00:16:07.559
and this was kind of our answer to that was

344
00:16:07.600 --> 00:16:09.879
to be able to filter in, you know, all of

345
00:16:09.879 --> 00:16:12.759
our consumer loans from the branches into six different people

346
00:16:13.159 --> 00:16:14.960
who are working loans all day every day. They're not

347
00:16:14.960 --> 00:16:16.879
working on a box, they're not opening up an IRA

348
00:16:17.039 --> 00:16:19.759
in the branch. They're not dealing with fraud issues from

349
00:16:19.799 --> 00:16:22.159
different members coming in, you know, having issues like that.

350
00:16:22.360 --> 00:16:24.919
It's all loans, all day, every day, and you know,

351
00:16:25.840 --> 00:16:28.480
when it really gets together and it really starts hitting

352
00:16:28.480 --> 00:16:30.960
on all cylinders, we really believe that we'll have one

353
00:16:30.960 --> 00:16:33.000
of the top options for consumer lending in the state

354
00:16:33.000 --> 00:16:33.679
of Louisiana.

355
00:16:34.039 --> 00:16:36.320
Heat in all cylinders, I get that right, the little

356
00:16:36.360 --> 00:16:39.000
pun there so all gas and no brakes to use

357
00:16:39.000 --> 00:16:42.639
another pun, right. Really, this is a dedicated sales force

358
00:16:42.720 --> 00:16:44.759
that all they have to do is go out and.

359
00:16:46.399 --> 00:16:47.159
With these new.

360
00:16:47.000 --> 00:16:51.960
Borders not just create that new loan solution for them,

361
00:16:51.960 --> 00:16:54.000
but also look at those ancillary products. So I would

362
00:16:54.039 --> 00:16:57.240
imagine you've seen some cross sell opportunities or some cross

363
00:16:57.240 --> 00:16:59.960
sell successes that have come from that approach as well.

364
00:17:00.799 --> 00:17:03.600
Absolutely, I mean, our our debt production numbers have steadily

365
00:17:03.679 --> 00:17:07.279
started climbing. You're seeing our antilayer products, you know, start

366
00:17:07.359 --> 00:17:10.599
to climb with gaps and warranties, which means our net

367
00:17:10.599 --> 00:17:13.000
interest margin, our non interest income is starting to take

368
00:17:13.000 --> 00:17:14.720
a boost, and that's exactly where we want to be

369
00:17:15.039 --> 00:17:16.480
and we want to see and we want to continue

370
00:17:16.480 --> 00:17:19.000
to get those number numbers better. And as that contact

371
00:17:19.079 --> 00:17:22.759
center develops and grows and matures and seasons, you know,

372
00:17:22.839 --> 00:17:25.400
as as people get stronger and stronger up loans, we expect,

373
00:17:25.599 --> 00:17:28.079
you know, those numbers just continue to continue to escalate

374
00:17:28.079 --> 00:17:30.920
and get higher and improve, you know, all those things

375
00:17:30.960 --> 00:17:32.640
that you know we're talking about, whether it be net

376
00:17:32.640 --> 00:17:35.759
interesting come or non interesting income, and our net interest

377
00:17:35.759 --> 00:17:37.799
margin continue to improve and grow.

378
00:17:37.960 --> 00:17:40.400
Yeah, I mean improve net interest margin. Music to ears

379
00:17:40.440 --> 00:17:43.319
for every CFO out there, it's so hard right now,

380
00:17:43.440 --> 00:17:47.160
especially when we had we've had what three rate cuts

381
00:17:47.160 --> 00:17:50.559
since September of twenty twenty four that have not taken

382
00:17:50.599 --> 00:17:53.839
hold in the interest rate market at all. We're still

383
00:17:53.839 --> 00:17:56.480
seeing the tenure, for example, in around the four forties

384
00:17:56.720 --> 00:18:00.599
at the time of this recording, and it just there's

385
00:18:00.599 --> 00:18:02.640
so much uncertainty out there as to where the interest

386
00:18:02.680 --> 00:18:07.119
rate environment will be going. Has that had an impact

387
00:18:07.319 --> 00:18:09.799
on for you FCU in terms of your planning for

388
00:18:09.839 --> 00:18:14.079
twenty twenty five? There has been marching compression because of

389
00:18:13.559 --> 00:18:16.480
the cost for the credit union to get a dollar

390
00:18:16.519 --> 00:18:19.240
to come in, and then you know there's pressures to

391
00:18:19.279 --> 00:18:22.200
decrease interest rates so you can be competitive in your marketplace.

392
00:18:22.240 --> 00:18:26.039
So with that marching compression, are there has that shifted

393
00:18:26.119 --> 00:18:29.039
or has that changed in any way your growth of

394
00:18:29.480 --> 00:18:31.160
your growth prospects for twenty twenty five.

395
00:18:32.079 --> 00:18:34.440
Yeah, I mean we've always been a heavy certificate of

396
00:18:34.519 --> 00:18:37.000
deposit shop where a lot of that's how a lot

397
00:18:37.039 --> 00:18:39.039
of a lot of our deposits were coming in. And

398
00:18:39.079 --> 00:18:41.279
we've made a shift, you know, to try to move

399
00:18:41.319 --> 00:18:43.119
away from that to try to get some non maturity

400
00:18:43.160 --> 00:18:45.839
deposits in the door. We've made some changes to our

401
00:18:45.839 --> 00:18:48.119
money market product. We've made a couple of changes to

402
00:18:48.160 --> 00:18:49.960
some of our checking account products to try to bring

403
00:18:50.000 --> 00:18:52.160
in some of that non maturity money to come in.

404
00:18:52.319 --> 00:18:54.279
So you know, we're not you know, we're sitting on

405
00:18:54.319 --> 00:18:56.559
fixed costs, you know for CDs. You know where our

406
00:18:56.599 --> 00:19:00.400
average certificate rate probably in twenty twenty five, I want

407
00:19:00.400 --> 00:19:02.400
to say, was around four and a half percent, and

408
00:19:02.440 --> 00:19:04.440
then when you have rates you know kind of in

409
00:19:04.519 --> 00:19:07.279
the sixes, six and a half seven percent area, you

410
00:19:07.319 --> 00:19:10.279
know that that margin is not very it's not very big.

411
00:19:10.599 --> 00:19:12.960
That's a very thin margin, especially when you talk about

412
00:19:13.319 --> 00:19:17.640
factor and cost labor, you know, software delinquency charge offs.

413
00:19:17.839 --> 00:19:20.279
I mean, that's a very razor thin margin that we've seen.

414
00:19:20.359 --> 00:19:23.400
So we've shifted our focus, you know, from being you know,

415
00:19:23.519 --> 00:19:26.759
a heavy CD shop to more of a you know,

416
00:19:26.839 --> 00:19:29.319
try to bring in more non maturity deposits to be

417
00:19:29.400 --> 00:19:31.039
able to you know, be able to lend that money

418
00:19:31.039 --> 00:19:33.039
out at some higher rates and you know, have some

419
00:19:33.119 --> 00:19:35.960
lower rates coming in for that no non maturity money.

420
00:19:35.960 --> 00:19:38.279
And we've seen, you know, we've seen some improvements there

421
00:19:38.480 --> 00:19:40.359
on our end. We've we've been able to lower some

422
00:19:40.440 --> 00:19:43.880
of our non maturity or've increased our non maturity numbers

423
00:19:44.039 --> 00:19:46.200
and lowered some of our CD numbers to be able

424
00:19:46.240 --> 00:19:48.119
to continue to lend. So there's margins will continue to

425
00:19:48.200 --> 00:19:50.079
kind of grow and expand.

426
00:19:49.920 --> 00:19:54.160
Yeah, that's smart until we see rates start to lower.

427
00:19:54.640 --> 00:19:58.160
Bor room rates at least for financial institutions. You know,

428
00:19:58.279 --> 00:20:01.640
you're you're going to have to think fast to be

429
00:20:01.680 --> 00:20:04.880
able to keep that liquidy wheel turning as as things

430
00:20:04.920 --> 00:20:06.960
go on. I'm gonna shift gears a little bit. There's

431
00:20:07.000 --> 00:20:10.160
another fun shift gears. Let's talk a little bit about

432
00:20:10.400 --> 00:20:14.119
I know we FCU is prolific in your communities, in

433
00:20:14.559 --> 00:20:20.400
supporting your local academic institutions, specifically Louisiana State University, Southern University,

434
00:20:20.440 --> 00:20:24.720
both in your inergy pardon me, both in your geographic footprint.

435
00:20:25.559 --> 00:20:27.759
And I know you've been doing some things around financial

436
00:20:27.839 --> 00:20:31.519
literacy education and some other partnerships. So maybe share with

437
00:20:31.559 --> 00:20:33.720
the audience a little bit about the genesis of that,

438
00:20:33.799 --> 00:20:37.839
why that started with financial literacy with students, and kind

439
00:20:37.839 --> 00:20:40.279
of where you've taken it, where you think it may

440
00:20:40.319 --> 00:20:42.000
go from here. Yeah.

441
00:20:42.039 --> 00:20:44.400
Absolutely, So we had a CEO change a couple of

442
00:20:44.480 --> 00:20:47.680
years ago. We brought in a new CEOT out of

443
00:20:47.680 --> 00:20:50.000
Michigan and he actually was with the University of Michigan

444
00:20:50.039 --> 00:20:52.720
Credit Union. His name is Tom Kashlikiz. He was a

445
00:20:52.720 --> 00:20:56.079
former CFO over at the University of Michigan Credit Union. Naturally,

446
00:20:56.160 --> 00:20:58.920
he had that relationship you know, already pre established at

447
00:20:58.960 --> 00:21:01.720
the University of Michigan, at the University of Michigan itself,

448
00:21:02.359 --> 00:21:04.640
So that was one of his goals coming in here,

449
00:21:05.119 --> 00:21:07.160
was to be able to establish some relationships with some

450
00:21:07.200 --> 00:21:11.119
of the local universities around here. In that timeframe. Uh,

451
00:21:11.200 --> 00:21:14.640
since he's come in, we've signed sponsorship agreements with Louisiana

452
00:21:14.640 --> 00:21:18.599
State University and Southern University multiple year agreements where we've

453
00:21:18.599 --> 00:21:20.759
become you know, some of the flagship sponsors for credit

454
00:21:20.880 --> 00:21:24.319
unions for those universities. With that comes you know, a

455
00:21:24.359 --> 00:21:27.400
lot of perks. We've been able to go in.

456
00:21:26.640 --> 00:21:29.000
To both universities LSU and Southern.

457
00:21:29.359 --> 00:21:29.480
UH.

458
00:21:29.519 --> 00:21:32.359
We've been doing some financial literacy. UH. I've done some

459
00:21:32.400 --> 00:21:36.359
car buying seminars with both Southern student athletes and LSU

460
00:21:36.400 --> 00:21:39.519
student athletes. You know, people who you don't really you know,

461
00:21:39.640 --> 00:21:41.960
handle some of those day to day things. They've never

462
00:21:42.000 --> 00:21:43.920
really gone out and you bought a vehicle. So we've

463
00:21:43.920 --> 00:21:46.720
done you know, kind of mock uh mock car buying

464
00:21:46.759 --> 00:21:50.720
scenarios and seminars with with both universities that really provide

465
00:21:50.720 --> 00:21:52.240
a lot of great results and a lot of great

466
00:21:52.279 --> 00:21:56.160
feedback from both universities and just them just getting general understanding,

467
00:21:56.279 --> 00:21:59.079
general training about you know, some real worldlife things like

468
00:21:59.160 --> 00:22:01.839
going out and buying a vehicle has been you know,

469
00:22:01.920 --> 00:22:03.759
tremendous help to some of these kids and some of

470
00:22:03.759 --> 00:22:06.359
these students in these communities. And it's you know, it's

471
00:22:06.400 --> 00:22:09.359
not information and it's not education that they typically get,

472
00:22:09.400 --> 00:22:11.960
you know, in the classroom or you know, out in

473
00:22:12.000 --> 00:22:13.839
their out in their day to day life because typically

474
00:22:13.880 --> 00:22:17.519
you know, these are generally sports sports athletics athletes who

475
00:22:17.519 --> 00:22:19.759
are usually concentrate on their sports and you know, they're

476
00:22:19.799 --> 00:22:21.200
not having a whole lot of time to be able

477
00:22:21.240 --> 00:22:22.720
to go out and do some of these things. So

478
00:22:22.799 --> 00:22:24.319
for us to be able to go in there, you

479
00:22:24.319 --> 00:22:27.240
know and provide some of these financial literacy events, you know,

480
00:22:27.319 --> 00:22:29.960
such as car buying, uh, you know credit you know,

481
00:22:30.000 --> 00:22:32.279
credit worthiness and kind of understand like a credit one

482
00:22:32.279 --> 00:22:34.599
oh one, uh, you know, type of class that we've

483
00:22:34.640 --> 00:22:36.640
been able to go in as Southern and l s

484
00:22:36.720 --> 00:22:39.039
U and kind of teach and kind of get the

485
00:22:39.319 --> 00:22:41.640
get a basic understanding, get a graphs, you know, for

486
00:22:41.680 --> 00:22:43.839
these students to really understand, you know, what some of.

487
00:22:43.839 --> 00:22:45.599
These things mean. What some of these things do.

488
00:22:46.000 --> 00:22:47.279
You know, when it is a great time to go

489
00:22:47.319 --> 00:22:50.359
buy a vehicle, you know, what should we be doing

490
00:22:50.359 --> 00:22:52.559
before we go buy a vehicle? You know, going getting

491
00:22:52.559 --> 00:22:55.799
pre approved, you know, understanding what you know, what your

492
00:22:55.839 --> 00:22:58.519
interest rate, you're going to you potentially qualify for. You know,

493
00:22:58.759 --> 00:23:00.720
what is the value of the vehicle that you may

494
00:23:00.720 --> 00:23:02.519
be trained in things like that that we're just kind

495
00:23:02.519 --> 00:23:05.799
of you know, showing these student athletes just basic little

496
00:23:05.799 --> 00:23:07.680
things that you know will go a long way and

497
00:23:07.720 --> 00:23:09.599
save them so much money, you know when they go

498
00:23:09.640 --> 00:23:11.279
out and do go buy that first vehicle?

499
00:23:11.680 --> 00:23:13.799
Yeah, I mean you're teaching them life skills really and

500
00:23:13.799 --> 00:23:16.680
it's beyond just the vehicle, and it's also how you're

501
00:23:16.680 --> 00:23:19.920
going to pay for that vehicle. Have you considered insurance?

502
00:23:19.920 --> 00:23:22.440
Have you considered if there's a breakdown, how are you

503
00:23:22.480 --> 00:23:24.599
going to pay for all those things? So, you know,

504
00:23:25.119 --> 00:23:27.680
I've had more than twenty years in credit unions and

505
00:23:29.480 --> 00:23:33.079
it still floors me that there's there's nothing in high

506
00:23:33.119 --> 00:23:37.279
schools or middle schools teaching financial literacy. It seems to

507
00:23:37.319 --> 00:23:41.559
fall on the community based financial institutions and a grassroots

508
00:23:42.079 --> 00:23:45.279
level to go out and actually educate these kids on

509
00:23:45.799 --> 00:23:49.279
the realities of their financial life that you know, you're

510
00:23:49.319 --> 00:23:52.640
preparing them for things that those that aren't going through

511
00:23:52.640 --> 00:23:55.160
any sort of program like this just just may not

512
00:23:55.200 --> 00:23:57.400
have any any sort of understanding of or even know

513
00:23:57.480 --> 00:23:59.720
where to go to ask for these sorts of questions.

514
00:23:59.759 --> 00:24:03.119
So kudos to to the FCU and yourself for that.

515
00:24:03.759 --> 00:24:07.519
I know that you also with these universities, the f

516
00:24:07.559 --> 00:24:10.640
c U is embarking in uh an IL name, image

517
00:24:10.640 --> 00:24:14.880
and likeness promotions, So not necessarily straight down the lending path,

518
00:24:14.960 --> 00:24:17.359
but certainly I think it's something that's helping to build

519
00:24:17.400 --> 00:24:20.480
your brand in in your marketplace and maybe some some

520
00:24:20.599 --> 00:24:25.559
brand awareness for potential car buyers, potential auto loan borders.

521
00:24:25.640 --> 00:24:28.839
So maybe talk a little bit about how an i

522
00:24:29.039 --> 00:24:31.519
L started as an idea with the FCU and kind

523
00:24:31.519 --> 00:24:32.839
of where it's where it's going from there.

524
00:24:33.559 --> 00:24:33.759
Yeah.

525
00:24:33.799 --> 00:24:37.519
Absolutely, I mean it started with our price price Tyler grodeye,

526
00:24:37.839 --> 00:24:39.640
you know, and at that point, and I AL was

527
00:24:39.880 --> 00:24:42.359
so very new, you know, not a lot of people

528
00:24:42.400 --> 00:24:44.400
had a lot of understanding of the I L and

529
00:24:44.440 --> 00:24:46.759
you know what the ramifications were going to be, you know,

530
00:24:46.880 --> 00:24:49.880
contract obligations, you know, how to write up a contract

531
00:24:50.039 --> 00:24:52.079
for a player at that point, you know, and when

532
00:24:52.119 --> 00:24:54.759
Tom came in, you know, Tom had already had some

533
00:24:54.839 --> 00:24:57.160
experience of this with the University of Michigan Credit Union,

534
00:24:57.279 --> 00:24:59.920
so you know, he's come in, We've got the sponsorship

535
00:24:59.920 --> 00:25:02.599
of agreements lined up with these universities, and then hey,

536
00:25:02.799 --> 00:25:04.759
now it's time that we know we help some out

537
00:25:04.759 --> 00:25:07.440
of the student athletes out. We were able to do

538
00:25:07.519 --> 00:25:11.400
several sponsorship in I l agreements with two LSU baseball players,

539
00:25:11.960 --> 00:25:15.759
Danny Dickinson and Chase Shores. I happen to be the

540
00:25:16.559 --> 00:25:19.720
beneficiary of being able to select those players. I'm not

541
00:25:19.759 --> 00:25:22.000
sure if you see behind me, there's a there's a

542
00:25:22.240 --> 00:25:25.559
nice there's a bat above there, and there's a a

543
00:25:25.759 --> 00:25:28.839
platform at night platform, but they pick a frank picture

544
00:25:28.880 --> 00:25:31.200
of l s U in National Championship, say number seven.

545
00:25:31.759 --> 00:25:33.799
I happen to be a huge l Shue baseball fan,

546
00:25:33.880 --> 00:25:35.279
so it kind of was a natural fit for me

547
00:25:35.599 --> 00:25:37.759
to be able to kind of identify some some players

548
00:25:37.799 --> 00:25:40.240
of the LSU's team and you know, be able to

549
00:25:40.279 --> 00:25:42.359
reach out to them. And you know how that started

550
00:25:42.559 --> 00:25:45.200
was being able to go into some of these universities

551
00:25:45.279 --> 00:25:47.720
and start doing some of these financial literacy events.

552
00:25:48.079 --> 00:25:49.200
We started by doing a.

553
00:25:49.160 --> 00:25:52.319
Financial literacy at LSU and that's how I met Danny

554
00:25:52.359 --> 00:25:55.920
Dickinson and him and I quickly established a relationship. And

555
00:25:55.960 --> 00:25:57.720
then later on down the line, you know, we were

556
00:25:57.759 --> 00:26:00.160
able to offer him an n IL deal where you know,

557
00:26:00.200 --> 00:26:02.920
he came in along with Chase Shores. They came in,

558
00:26:03.079 --> 00:26:04.960
We took some pictures, we put up put them up

559
00:26:05.000 --> 00:26:07.240
on some billboards. You know, talking about some of our

560
00:26:07.279 --> 00:26:10.240
great products and services. So and now they're you know,

561
00:26:10.279 --> 00:26:12.279
they are recognizable faces around.

562
00:26:12.279 --> 00:26:13.319
The LSU community.

563
00:26:13.720 --> 00:26:15.440
And it's just been the same thing for Southern you know,

564
00:26:15.480 --> 00:26:18.079
we've gone in we've done a few sponsorship agreement in

565
00:26:18.119 --> 00:26:20.720
IL agreements with some of their players, you know, getting

566
00:26:20.759 --> 00:26:23.160
them kind of more involved, and just getting the universities involved.

567
00:26:23.240 --> 00:26:26.039
And it was all literally through the financial literacy events

568
00:26:26.039 --> 00:26:28.200
that we started doing with some of these student athletes

569
00:26:28.200 --> 00:26:32.759
at these universities, and that's how these relationships developed. LSU

570
00:26:32.799 --> 00:26:36.200
specifically has actually a mock in IL not in mocking

571
00:26:36.519 --> 00:26:40.119
an in IL app where you can request, you know,

572
00:26:40.160 --> 00:26:43.160
a certain player, you can and they have the contract

573
00:26:43.200 --> 00:26:45.880
already drawn up where the player will put his information,

574
00:26:46.079 --> 00:26:48.640
the credit union or institution will put in their information.

575
00:26:49.200 --> 00:26:51.160
It'll be a signed agreement, it'll have some kind of

576
00:26:51.160 --> 00:26:54.400
detail information or what's required other player d DNT information,

577
00:26:54.519 --> 00:26:57.240
what's required out of that institution. And we've been able

578
00:26:57.240 --> 00:26:59.440
to sign a few agreements that way and be able

579
00:26:59.480 --> 00:27:03.039
to really kind of pushed an eye out button into

580
00:27:03.119 --> 00:27:05.519
our favor and really kind of getting our name more

581
00:27:05.519 --> 00:27:07.880
out there as associated with these players and these student

582
00:27:07.920 --> 00:27:10.359
athletes and it's been a really good, really big success

583
00:27:10.359 --> 00:27:13.119
for us. We've seen a lot of success from you know,

584
00:27:13.200 --> 00:27:15.960
both the Credit Union standpoint and the players standpoint. As

585
00:27:16.039 --> 00:27:18.160
you know, they're succeeding in the field, the Credit uniit

586
00:27:18.160 --> 00:27:20.319
is succeeding in the community absolutely.

587
00:27:20.400 --> 00:27:22.680
I mean when when true and when the Credit Union

588
00:27:22.680 --> 00:27:26.599
gets a greater brand awareness, uh from representation by these

589
00:27:26.680 --> 00:27:29.440
players and then they got a few dollars in their pocket,

590
00:27:29.480 --> 00:27:34.559
which not that long ago. Amateur athletes, n CUAA athletes,

591
00:27:35.000 --> 00:27:38.400
we're getting paid a big fat zero for the performance

592
00:27:38.480 --> 00:27:41.200
on the field. And so now they're actually gained a

593
00:27:41.240 --> 00:27:43.400
little bit for the skill that that that they're and

594
00:27:43.400 --> 00:27:46.240
and the work that they put in for amateur athletics.

595
00:27:46.279 --> 00:27:49.079
So that's that's great for you, f CEU. All Right,

596
00:27:49.200 --> 00:27:52.440
So we usually end the pod with bold predictions, but

597
00:27:52.480 --> 00:27:54.440
I'm gonna have a little bit of a twist here today, Adam,

598
00:27:54.480 --> 00:27:56.279
because you're a veteran of the pod. I mean, you

599
00:27:56.279 --> 00:27:59.200
can handle these sort of these these sort of curve balls,

600
00:27:59.279 --> 00:28:02.599
right baseball pun there. So I'm going to do bold

601
00:28:02.599 --> 00:28:05.079
predictions with word associations. So I'll give you a word

602
00:28:05.079 --> 00:28:06.680
and you give me a bold prediction on it okay,

603
00:28:07.319 --> 00:28:10.559
and and yeah you know these are free or your

604
00:28:10.599 --> 00:28:13.480
money back okay. So on all these predictions, so we

605
00:28:13.519 --> 00:28:16.559
won't hold you too hard to it so bold prediction

606
00:28:16.640 --> 00:28:18.960
word association. Interest rates.

607
00:28:21.400 --> 00:28:22.039
Bold prediction.

608
00:28:22.240 --> 00:28:25.799
For the year, they probably stay the same, maybe even

609
00:28:26.039 --> 00:28:28.880
into halfway a twenty twenty six. I think interest rates

610
00:28:28.880 --> 00:28:31.319
are going to kind of hover around the same, regardless

611
00:28:31.359 --> 00:28:33.119
if the FEDS aside to drop the rate or not.

612
00:28:33.240 --> 00:28:34.799
I think I think INTR rates are going to kind

613
00:28:34.839 --> 00:28:35.440
of hold steady.

614
00:28:35.880 --> 00:28:39.160
Got you use vehicle prices?

615
00:28:40.359 --> 00:28:42.960
Use vehicle prices I think will start coming down a

616
00:28:43.000 --> 00:28:45.599
little bit, as they have already that we've seen this

617
00:28:45.720 --> 00:28:49.920
year with the influx of inventory. Rates are still high.

618
00:28:50.160 --> 00:28:52.799
Inventories are very plentiful. At that point, when you have

619
00:28:52.880 --> 00:28:55.799
high inventory, you have load demand. What happens prices start

620
00:28:55.839 --> 00:28:57.559
going down. I think that's exactly what you're going to

621
00:28:57.559 --> 00:28:59.759
start seeing, as you've started seeing over the past, you know,

622
00:28:59.799 --> 00:29:00.640
sover months or so.

623
00:29:01.279 --> 00:29:03.000
Got you tariffs.

624
00:29:04.839 --> 00:29:06.000
Mixed results.

625
00:29:06.480 --> 00:29:08.200
I'm not sure what to think about the tariffs, and

626
00:29:08.240 --> 00:29:09.720
I don't think anyone else has an ID.

627
00:29:09.960 --> 00:29:13.000
I don't either. I don't even think the auto company

628
00:29:13.000 --> 00:29:15.240
executives know what what's gonna happen with you.

629
00:29:15.359 --> 00:29:18.440
Yeah, I'll just say neutral because I'm not really sure.

630
00:29:18.640 --> 00:29:19.599
That's just a mixed bag.

631
00:29:19.640 --> 00:29:22.920
They're altogether Yeah, uncertainty. So here I'm breaking into this,

632
00:29:23.039 --> 00:29:25.920
but a little bit of uncertainty. And perhaps that's why

633
00:29:25.920 --> 00:29:29.920
you're seeing more cars than the losses. People are maybe

634
00:29:30.000 --> 00:29:33.319
not quite ready to make that jump, thinking, hey, things

635
00:29:33.400 --> 00:29:37.160
might get a little bit harder economically here. Maybe I'm

636
00:29:37.200 --> 00:29:40.000
okay with my car. It's not perfect, but it still runs,

637
00:29:40.039 --> 00:29:42.839
and uh, and maybe I'm not ready to take on

638
00:29:42.880 --> 00:29:44.240
a new payment or a higher payment.

639
00:29:44.799 --> 00:29:47.480
Yeah. Maybe. So it's just it's just so, it's just

640
00:29:47.519 --> 00:29:48.559
a big mix bag there.

641
00:29:49.319 --> 00:29:50.759
No one, I don't think no one really has a

642
00:29:50.759 --> 00:29:52.519
good idea of what's really going to come out of.

643
00:29:52.480 --> 00:29:53.359
That right on.

644
00:29:53.480 --> 00:29:57.039
Okay, three more self driving vehicles.

645
00:29:57.119 --> 00:29:59.960
Will become a bigger thing as we progress in time.

646
00:30:00.400 --> 00:30:03.279
I think it's a small thing right now. But you've

647
00:30:03.279 --> 00:30:07.799
already seen like some you know, trucking manufacturing companies who

648
00:30:07.880 --> 00:30:10.319
have some of these self driving eighteen wheelers that are

649
00:30:10.319 --> 00:30:13.319
already doing you know, drives across the country right now.

650
00:30:13.359 --> 00:30:16.440
And I think that's only going to progress, especially in

651
00:30:16.519 --> 00:30:19.799
like the transportation industry, when it comes to eighteen wards,

652
00:30:19.799 --> 00:30:21.519
I think that's only going to continue to progress.

653
00:30:22.880 --> 00:30:26.240
AI Artificial intelligence here to.

654
00:30:26.200 --> 00:30:28.119
Stay, and it's only going to continue to be a

655
00:30:28.160 --> 00:30:31.079
bigger factor in everything that we do in our lives,

656
00:30:32.000 --> 00:30:37.279
whether that be underwriting, lending, financial institutions, grocery stores. I mean,

657
00:30:37.319 --> 00:30:39.000
I went through a Taco bell a couple of weeks

658
00:30:39.000 --> 00:30:41.319
ago with my little boy, and I was I was

659
00:30:41.359 --> 00:30:44.079
doing an order taker with an AI assistant. It wasn't

660
00:30:44.119 --> 00:30:45.839
a live person, it was AI.

661
00:30:46.240 --> 00:30:50.160
Right, and Brito's delivered to your door just like that exactly.

662
00:30:50.960 --> 00:30:53.079
LSU Tiger Baseball will be in.

663
00:30:53.079 --> 00:30:57.599
Omaha this year. We'll be competing for a national championship.

664
00:30:57.880 --> 00:31:00.440
This is open as a as a baseball field as

665
00:31:00.440 --> 00:31:02.599
I've seen in quite some time. I think there's probably

666
00:31:02.640 --> 00:31:04.599
seven to eight teams that can win a national championship

667
00:31:04.680 --> 00:31:07.480
this year, but I expect LSU to be an Omaha.

668
00:31:07.240 --> 00:31:09.720
So my crack researcher told me though that that LSU

669
00:31:09.799 --> 00:31:12.480
Baseball is some ranked number one in the country right now.

670
00:31:12.519 --> 00:31:15.000
So well, Adam, thank you once again for coming on

671
00:31:15.119 --> 00:31:17.680
the pod. We really appreciate you coming on and sharing

672
00:31:17.720 --> 00:31:21.720
your views on auto lending and things down the road.

673
00:31:21.759 --> 00:31:24.839
For the economy and and and lending in general, and

674
00:31:25.599 --> 00:31:27.880
appreciate your time, and we'll certainly have you back sometime

675
00:31:27.920 --> 00:31:28.440
in the future.

676
00:31:29.240 --> 00:31:31.480
Absolutely, Barry, thank you so much for having having me,

677
00:31:31.519 --> 00:31:33.559
and I really appreciate doing this with you, and I

678
00:31:33.599 --> 00:31:34.799
look forward to being able to doing this with you

679
00:31:34.839 --> 00:31:35.559
again in the future.

680
00:31:36.480 --> 00:31:37.720
Thank you, thank you,