Workers Credit Union of Fitchburg, Mass., has recently partnered with Sageworks, a financial analysis company that offers lending, credit risk and portfolio risk solutions.
The credit union selected Sageworks Lending Solution to improve efficiency and consistency across their credit analysis and origination processes in support of recent growth.
Workers Credit Union, now with 16 branches throughout Massachusetts, has grown assets to nearly $1.7 billion and posted year-over-year growth of 57 percent in loans outstanding in 2017 alone. To scale and support the increased activity, the credit union’s commercial lending department undertook a 6-month strategic assessment. A key outcome was the decision to move from the more time-consuming, arbitrary processes loan officers were using to a solution that would allow for faster, streamlined analysis and consistent documentation for regulators. Workers undertook a vigorous assessment of vendors to find a solution that would help them push through and track more loans as they seek to continue growing profitably.
With the institution’s chief objective of improving credit analysis, the team saw value in Sageworks’ history of serving accountants and CPAs and in the company’s expertise in understanding cash flows. The credit union also found that Sageworks Lending Solution offered full automation of the member’s lifecycle from beginning to end, starting with its patented Electronic Tax Return Reader to eliminate data entry, through to the collection of the loan and document preparation.
“We chose Sageworks for the very simple reason that its loan origination system demonstrated the highest value proposition for Workers Credit Union. We believe that Sageworks will increase revenue, at the margin, but will also make our processes more efficient and effective, meaning productivity gains for our lending staff,” said William “Bill” Mullin, Senior Vice President of Commercial Lending at Workers Credit Union. Expanding further on the credit union’s implementation expectations, Mullin added, “A major side benefit for Workers is that our regulators trust Sageworks systems, which will help us achieve better regulatory results. In other words, Sageworks software will make our Commercial Lending business better, so we can better serve our members!”
“Workers Credit Union has posted dramatic growth in loans outstanding over the last several years, and they understand the need for automation to continue supporting their commercial lending department,” commented Sageworks CEO Scott Ogle. “We are thrilled to be partnering with this institution in their pursuit of greater efficiency, and looking forward to sharing in their success as they rapidly finish integration and start reaping benefits for both their member businesses and lenders.”