It could seem that a Michigan credit union went out on a limb when it became the first CU user of a core processing platform for banks, but it all made sense. Business sense.

The $353 million Consumers Credit Union found that expanding its service to businesses was a challenge on its existing UltraData platform from Harland Financial Solutions, so it converted to Harland's Phoenix EFE solution, now in place at about 200 banks here and overseas, the company said.

Leaving the ranks of the 500 or so users of the venerable UltraData solution for credit unions has allowed the 40,000-member CU to consolidate onto one platform the growing range of business-oriented solutions. And that has helped it grow its business portfolio to nearly $40 million, manage participated and Small Business Administration loans and stay nearly 100% loaned out as it stays close to its regulatory cap and returns to double-digit asset growth, said Scott Sylvester, Consumers' chief operating officer.