Chairman and President’s Report

CU Direct marked its 25th anniversary in 2019. As we look back on our history and how we transformed the company to become today’s leader in lending technology, we celebrate this milestone with immense gratitude to our shareholders and customers. Looking forward we will continue to challenge ourselves to go further, do more, and continue to expand our value proposition.

Over the past two years, CU Direct’s Board and management identified the risks and opportunities in the financial services marketplace and how the Company can best take advantage of them. We recognized  the importance for CU Direct to diversify its investments in other loan products as well as take the opportunity to invest in a first ever Enterprise Origination Platform for all loan and new account products. This decision required a substantial investment that will create meaningful benefits to our credit unions.  We have adequate capital to make these investments and to endure planned deficits in 2019 and 2020.

In 2019, CU Direct set the foundation to creating the ultimate origination experience for members, credit unions and auto dealerships. We did this while continuing a solid growth trajectory in indirect lending, and our consumer lending platform.

Our CUDL network grew to 1,172 credit unions in 2019 and retained the #1 spot for auto lenders in the U.S for the third year in a row. CU Direct credit unions delivered more than $43 billion in total loan funding. Our dealer coverage throughout the nation also increased to include 15,813 auto dealers on the CUDL network.