Credit unions running the Fiserv Galaxy core processing platform are being offered an aggregate pricing model for 24/7 contact center services from Lending Solutions Inc.The aggregated offering allows Galaxy Plus users to take advantage of each other's call volume to lower usage costs, the company said. LSI said using the Fiserv MR+ platform allows LSI to handle more than 90% of inbound member service calls."We are excited to bring this special value-added offering to our client base and look forward to continuing our practice of providing best-of-breed services to our credit union partners," said Jay Slavin, Fiserv vice president.A Webinar on the offering will be held on Wednesday, March 18, at 10:30 a.m. CDT. Registration is at http://lendingsolutions.webex.com/eventcenter. For more information, contact Bill Hultstrand at [email protected] 325 credit unions use the Galaxy system. LSI provides contact center and other services to more than 300 credit unions and other lenders from its offices in Elgin, Ill.–[email protected]

Analysis of 2008 Data Shows ThatMembers Kept Using Credit Cards

Analysis of 2008 credit union data shows credit union members continued to use their credit cards in the face of difficult economic times last year.According to an analysis of the data performed by the Portland, Ore.-based consultancy Asset Exchange, credit unions with card portfolios worth at least $1 million only grew the number of accounts by 2.0%, while their overall balances grew by 8.5%. CUs with card portfolios worth more than $1 million issued 12.2 million credit cards as of end of the year, and those cards carried balances worth $32.3 billion.The firm also reported that 57 credit unions achieved the $1 million card portfolio milestone in 2008 and that the average CU credit card account carried a balance of $2,647 as of the end of the year.But as CU card balances grew, so did other CU assets. For 2008, credit union credit card assets represented 4.9% of CU assets overall, the same percentage as the end of 2007.Of note in 2008 was a marked drop in the number of credit unions selling their credit card portfolios. Asset Exchange reported that in 2008 about 22 portfolios with balances of about $100 million sold versus about 70 portfolios with $390 million outstanding in 2007.The data from the last quarter of 2008 suggest that only two credit unions with credit card portfolios larger than $1 million sold their portfolios during the quarter, with a combined balance of approximately $3 million. In the fourth quarter of 2007, 16 portfolios with about $110 million in combined balances were sold.Sources in firms that purchase CU card portfolios confirm that interest in sales has largely dried up with the exception now of some credit unions that are exploring the possibility of selling should they need to restore capital levels.Credit union credit card market penetration remained flat at 18.0% in the fourth quarter of 2008, the firm reported. In previous quarters, the penetration rate had risen somewhat as the rate of adding new credit union members slowed. Generally, credit card penetration has lagged new member acquisition.–[email protected]