CU Shares Blueprint for Commercial Services Success: Onsite at CUBG

PORTLAND, Ore. – Many credit unions looking to develop a successful business services program are still in the very early stages of development – or have not begun the program at all. At the 2019 National Business Services Conference hosted by CUSO CU Business Group Tuesday, executives from two credit unions shared step-by-step details on how they built and/or revamped their credit unions’ business services programs, setting their institutions up for future success in the space.

Here, CU Times shares lessons from HAPO Community Credit Union’s commercial services journey. Part two will focus on how Affinity Federal Credit Union grew business relationships through Treasury management products.

HAPO Commercial Services

When he first came on board at the $1.7 billion HAPO Community in Richland, Wash., Vice President of Commercial Services Monte Drake was tasked with building a strong commercial services program in 18 months. In a conference breakout session, he discussed the highs and lows of his three-phase rollout, which resulted in the creation of HAPO Commercial Services, a new department within the credit union. Here are some top takeaways from each of the three phrases.

Phase 1: Laying the Foundation

• Implement specific policies and procedures. Drake said he had to spend time studying Washington State-specific regulations around commercial services, and educating the credit union’s leadership on the policies and procedures.
• Create a technology infrastructure that will support your commercial services. HAPO Community identified which vendors and software providers it wanted to work with, and ended up completing a core conversion because its existing core could only handle retail accounts. It also added an analytical software system for analyzing credit, and created a system of virtual files for staff, ensuring all loan files were well-organized and consistent with one another.
• Hire a team and develop a unique commercial services brand identity. HAPO Commercial Services created its own logo and a separate office area within the credit union’s headquarters. It also hasn’t been shy about advertising – Drake explained that a “Vegas-style” sign promoting the department’s services is affixed to the side of the headquarters building and can be easily seen by people driving by.

Phase 2: Training, Testing and Launching

• Spend time fine-tuning the new culture. Drake noted educating leaders from across the credit union about commercial services and what they needed to do in their roles to ensure its success – and keeping them on track – was a challenge. He compared training leadership to handing them scripts for a specific movie. “I realized some of the people I had given scripts to had shredded the script,” he said, adding that every area of the credit union was touched by the new department, even facilities.
• Build partnerships. HAPO Community has teamed up with CU Business Group, the Northwest Credit Union Association, TMC Financing and the National Association of Credit Management for assistance.
• Emphasize service in the beginning. Drake said HAPO Commercial Services gave $100 gift cards to businesses that were the first to open accounts at the credit union and put up with the new department’s growing pains.

Phase 3: Production

• Consider additional hires. In this phase, HAPO Commercial Services hired a relationship manager and a commercial loan documentation specialist.
• Think about future products and services. HAPO Commercial Services currently offers equipment, commercial real estate, aircraft and unsecured loans; working capital lines of credit; business Visas; traditional and premier business checking accounts; a premier money market account and remote deposit capture. It’s now looking at adding Treasury management services, which will include a premier analyzed checking account; desktop RDC; sweep services; positive pay and online banking.
• Work to retain members and stay relevant. “One key to making it work is having branches and relationship managers work together,” Drake noted.