While Northrop Grumman Federal Credit Union’s members were receiving communication that their loans were approved, there was a gap connecting members to loan processors.
“This led to many calls from members looking for next steps or information and we were spending a significant amount of time working to catch up with our member after they had been approved,” said Northrop Grumman FCU Vice President of Lending Cindy Phillips.
To remedy the situation, Phillips and her team reached out to the Elgin, Ill.-based LSI (formerly Lending Solutions, Inc.). The Gardena, Calif.-based credit union adopted LSI’s Hot Transfer program.
“LSI and Northrop Grumman FCU have developed a strong partnership,” said LSI Vice President of Sales and Marketing Jeff Stewart. “The efficiencies and increased effectiveness of the resources, which Northrop Grumman FCU invests in its lending department, have been significant.”
In order to implement the LSI Hot Transfer solution, an “exclusive in-bound extension” was created for LSI employees to reach Northrop Grumman FCU’s employees, which “clearly identified” that the communication was an LSI Hot Transfer.
“We confirmed the scripting with the LSI employees and our employees, and in one quick 30-minute training made sure that all of our stakeholders knew what to anticipate from the new process,” said Phillips. “Then we turned on the service and started receiving member calls that same day.”
The return on investment was quickly realized, noted Phillips. The credit union’s internal call center, for example, reported that the number of calls from members looking for a loan processor to discuss their loan were “quickly reduced” to almost a “non-existent number.”
“The use of the LSI Hot Transfer program allows our internal employees to focus on funding and allows LSI employees to focus on loan interviewing and decisioning,” said Phillips. “The combination of the two skill sets, connected through the Hot Transfer program, has yielded great benefits in our member service.”
The credit union’s loan approval percentage rose from 62 percent in 2016 to 66 percent at the end of the first quarter in 2017. A 12 percent increase in used auto loan approval (from 42 percent to 54 percent) was also realized.
Those results earned the credit union a
“The increase in funding percentage outpaced the increase in loan application percentage,” said Phillip. “There was a decrease in the length of funding timelines and the largest percentage of zero-day-funding.”
