Aimbridge Indirect Lending, Ohio Credit Unions and Ohio Credit Union League Services Corporation Form Indirect Lending Program
DENVER--Nov. 1, 20037, 2003--| Partnership Creates Opportunity for Credit Unions to Collectively Increase Market Share and Compete against Ohio Banks |
Aimbridge Indirect Lending announced that it has joined forces with OCUL Services Corporation and Ohio credit unions to launch Aimbridge Indirect Lending (AIL) of Ohio. The program allows credit unions to further penetrate the Ohio market and is part of Aimbridge's national expansion efforts. Aimbridge Indirect Lending is a division of The Aimbridge Group and a financing channel that connects credit unions with an automotive dealer network to provide members and potential members with automobile loans.
AIL Ohio has plans to include the entire state during 2004. Approximately 25 percent of Ohioans belong to a credit union. The objective of the program is to provide a convenient delivery channel for current credit union members to purchase vehicles and to facilitate membership growth through indirect lending. Since the credit unions will be working under the same indirect lending program, their lending volumes will be easier for dealerships to manage.
Initially, approximately 30 credit unions and 75 automobile dealerships from Cincinnati, Dayton, Columbus and Toledo will be participating in the program.
Prior to selecting Aimbridge Indirect Lending to develop an indirect lending program, nine Ohio credit union executives formed a taskforce to examine indirect lending programs. The group researched three other indirect lending programs as well as discussed building a program in-house.
According to Dave Fearing, chief operations officer of OCUL Services Corporation, the taskforce chose to work with Aimbridge for three reasons. First, Aimbridge has designed a very comprehensive approach to automobile dealership network management. Second, it developed a cutting-edge, Internet-based automobile loan application tracking system with connectivity to credit unions and dealers that supports standard and custom credit union decisioning matrices. It can manage loan volumes from multiple credit unions, and the technology also generates individual lending status reports for the credit unions on an ongoing basis. Third, Aimbridge was willing to create a partnership relationship with Ohio credit unions and OCUL Services Corporation.
Steve Bentley, CEO of The Aimbridge Group, said, "Our partnership with Ohio credit unions and OCUL Services Corporation presents credit unions with the unique opportunity to pool their resources and create an indirect lending program that will enable them to further penetrate the market and better compete against banks and finance companies. Our goal is to help credit unions and dealers streamline the lending processes and generate more loan volume in this market."
"Aimbridge has the expertise and the relationships to help us establish a successful indirect lending program," Fearing said. "The company has built indirect lending programs in many markets and already cultivated relationships with more than 1,200 dealers throughout the United States. We have been very impressed with Aimbridge's commitment to our market and its understanding of indirect lending."
About OCUL Services Corporation
OCUL Services Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Ohio Credit Union League. The Ohio Credit Union League, with offices in Dublin, is a state trade association representing more than 500 credit unions in Ohio. OCUL Services Corporation is the business division designed to bring growth, products and solutions to Ohio credit unions.
About The Aimbridge Group
Founded in 1984 and headquartered in Denver, The Aimbridge Group markets financial products, such as auto loans and leases, mortgages and insurance products through partnerships with credit unions. The company helps their partners attract members and deepen their relationships by providing members with more reasons to do business with their credit unions.
The Aimbridge Group is comprised of five divisions, including Aimbridge Indirect Lending, Aimbridge Leasing, Aimbridge Home Loans, Aimbridge Financial Services and Aimbridge Automotive Group. The company is headquartered in Denver and has remote offices located throughout the United States.
For additional information, write The Aimbridge Group at 4610 S. Ulster St., Suite 300, Denver, Colorado 80237 or contact Andrea Harris at 303.306.3231. Visit its Web site at www.aimbridge.com.