Opening Comments

Dave J. Serlo, President, PSCU Financial Services

With the industry losing one credit union a day, PSCU Financial Services President David J. Serlo urged attendees to tap into the cooperative’s resources to gain the advantages of its scale and expertise.

“Our industry-leading products and talented personnel enable credit unions of any size to succeed and grow,” said Serlo. “Not only do we deliver industry-leading products and services, we also offer experienced specialists to help credit unions launch new programs and enter new markets.”

In addition to developing products that meet members’ current and future needs, the cooperative also reduces costs through its relationship pricing structure. This model rewards credit unions for using multiple products through discounted costs. Serlo announced at the meeting that, effective immediately, any credit union with 24 months or less remaining on a contract with another vendor could sign a letter of intent to move that program over to the cooperative and gain relationship price discounts immediately.

He emphasized the CUSO’s commitment to returning value to its members by passing along savings in the form of dividends and other distributions. The cooperative’s agreement with First Data, for example, will save $112 million over seven years. The cooperative returned 91% of its savings for 2007 to its member owners and will return 103% of its annual savings for 2008. It will also return $20.5 million in proceeds resulting from Visa’s IPO to credit unions that issue Visa cards under its principal agreement.

Serlo urged credit unions to explore the cooperative’s 24/7 contact center support that has been expanded to include lending, branch services, and cross selling. “Our contact center staff can answer a member’s question about their credit account and pre-approve them for a car loan in the same phone call. Let our contact centers serve as a business development arm for your credit union.”

The cooperative succeeds only if its members succeed, he said. “We are committed to helping our member-owners grow and prosper because our success depends upon it. As a result, we look for every opportunity to reduce expenses, return value and provide revenue growth to our credit unions.”