New CUSO thinking differently for the smaller credit unions.
A Texas credit union has launched a new CUSO that it said it hopes will start "a movement within the movement" for credit unions that have less than $100 million in assets.
The CUSO, called CU Evolution, provides strategic planning, lending, leadership and marketing capabilities, according to an announcement on Monday. The CUSO will provide help with board leadership, succession planning, culture development, logo design, branding guides and custom marketing campaigns, as well as strategic consultation and staff education in lending services.
Denton, Texas-based Living in Fulfillment Everyday (LiFE) Federal Credit Union, which has $24 million in assets and about 1,900 members, originated the CUSO. Fort Worth, Texas-based Family 1st of Texas Federal Credit Union also has an ownership interest; that credit union has $14 million in assets and about 2,200 members.
Deke Alexander, LiFE's former chief lending officer, leads the CUSO as CEO, according to the announcement.
Howard Bufe will join Alexander in leading the CUSO. Bufe spent 11 years at Credit Union Resources, Inc., and 16 years at the Cornerstone Credit Union League, where he provided professional planning, consulting and training services to more than 100 credit unions in the Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas region, according to CU Evolution.
"The financial services world, especially when it comes to the lender-borrower relationship, is undergoing intense disruption," Bufe said. "Status quo leadership and lending will not work for most small credit unions. The time to evolve is now."
The CUSO said it plans to take small credit unions through a three-step process that includes an assessment period, followed by training, consultation and support. It will also help with strategy execution, according to the announcement.
"We're not writing up a plan and walking away," Bufe noted. "We see CU Evolution as an extension of a credit union's own staff, as much a part of the implementation as the planning."
Alexander and Bufe are joined by Bryan Schmidt, CU Evolution's brand director, and Bri Barber, the CUSO's executive administrator.
"Each of these experienced credit union pros understands the daily struggles that confront a small credit union," LiFE FCU CEO and CU Evolution board member Dustin Fuller said. "That knowledge, combined with a contagious passion for advancing the credit union movement will be nothing short of transformational. We can't wait to see the impact CU Evolution has on the industry."
The Texas-based CUSO will have plenty of neighbors, according to annual data from the NCUA. Texas had 72 CUSOs at the end of 2017, second only to California, which had 76. There were 944 CUSO in the United States at the end of the year, the NCUA reported.
The NCUA report also indicated that the four most common CUSO services in the United States were lending, member services, other services and payment and electronic transaction processing. Most CUSOs (96%) served fewer than 100 credit union customers; 68% served only one credit union customer, it said.
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
