Credit union members tend to be loyal customers. And most members believe their credit union is acting in their best interest. The bedrock of member loyalty is built on the credit union’s products, services and transparency. But as many credit unions and financial institutions struggle to embrace new technology, today’s automotive consumers have become sophisticated digital shoppers. Is that established trust and loyalty being undermined by under serving today’s consumer?

According to Experian’s second-quarter State of the Automotive Financing Market report, credit unions’ share of total auto financing dropped 2.3% year over year to 19.8%. Credit union used vehicle share slipped 2.7% year-over-year.

Offer a Unique Personalized Digital Shopping Experience

Credit unions must adopt strategies and actions that not only build relationships with members, but also help differentiate their digital service benefits.

According to a West Monroe Partners study, “Credit union leaders feel that a fintech partnership will facilitate access to technology that wouldn’t be available otherwise. Leaders feel these mergers will, in the words of one respondent, ‘make our business more viable in the long run.'”

Thanks to a new partnership between Kemba Credit Union and truPayments, LLC, [Official PR link] Kemba, and other credit unions, can increase their auto loan market share by offering their members a unique car shopping experience, tru Shop-by-Payment™.

“We’re very pleased to introduce tru Shop-by-Payment™ as a member benefit to our more than 100,000 members” said Dennis Wander, Dealer Relations Manager, Kemba Credit Union. “truPayments® is a welcomed addition to our Member Auto Center which gives our members everything they need to find the right car at an affordable monthly payment.”

Dennis Wander

Dealer Relations Manager, Kemba Credit Union

tru Shop-by-Payment™ is a patent-pending marketing and sales platform that connects the right inventory and financing options to each customer based on their unique preferences and profile (including real credit). Shoppers will discover vehicles they didn’t know they could afford or a payment they didn’t know they could get. tru Shop-by-Payment™ quickly connects members to the right inventory and financing options based on their buying preferences across thousands of vehicles from participating new and used car dealers.

Kemba’s partnership with truPayments provides a new and exciting innovation that enhances the member’s experience and will lead to increased membership opportunities.

An Opportunity to Increase New Auto Sales

In addition to building membership, tru Shop-by-Payment™ also helps Credit Unions increase their new auto loan market share, which is just under 12%. The truPayments engine is able to match all incentives and rebates that a member qualifies for and apply that to the credit union’s financing criteria and all of their participating dealer’s inventory.

The result is more loan opportunities for credit unions as incentives and rebates are typically higher for non OEM Captive lenders that rely more on subsidized lending rates. When disparity among lending rates decrease, due to lower FED rates, Credit Union new car monthly loan payments become more competitive, equating to more booked new car loans.

“When you add the incentives, more consumers will find that monthly payments on a brand new vehicle are much more attractive compared to used vehicles, especially as interest rates decrease, said Jonathan Smoke, chief economist at Cox Automotive. “When you combine the rate movement with the incentive movement, that actually detracts from the strength of the used vehicle demand.” 

With “substantial incentives” [credit unions] could help increase new vehicle sales for prime consumers, Smoke said. “[Super prime] consumers can actually achieve a monthly payment on some very competitive and more affordable [new] vehicles — that becomes more attractive.” 

For more information on how your Credit Union can offer the tru Shop-by-Payment Experience to your members, please visit: https://shopbypayment.com/kemba/

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