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The Dakota Credit Union Association has taken steps in a tech-forward approach for the 69 credit unions it serves in North and South Dakota. The approach: Create a technological alliance to provide an artificial intelligence platform to assist in credit underwriting for the more than 520,000 members in the states.
Last month, the Dakota Credit Union Association (DakCU) launched its collaboration with the AI-underwriting experts at Scienaptic, based in New York City, to create a unique AI-based credit-underwriting offer for credit unions throughout the Dakotas.
According to DakCU, there is a need for better and faster credit underwriting across the region as Dakota credit unions currently provide $5.7 billion in loans to consumers. "The goal of this alliance is to extend the accessibility and power of AI to smaller credit unions in the region. The collaboration will help reach more credit unions regardless of asset size, making AI more attainable across the states," the announcement stated.
Currently, two Dakota credit unions have signed on with Scienaptic: Northern Hills Federal Credit Union in Sturgis, S.D. ($127.2 million in assets, 9,955 members) and Levo Credit Union in Sioux Falls, S.D. ($418.5 million in assets, 31,755 members).
Northern Hills CEO Floyd Rummel said he sees the benefit to using AI. "The use of Scienaptic's adaptive AI will help us provide better loan decisions for every single member we serve. It will empower our member-owners with more credit, enhance their lives, and reinforce our commitment toward the financial well-being of all members," he said.
Concerning its partnership with Scienaptic, Levo Vice President of Lending Steven Stofferahn said, "At Levo, our mission is to help better our members' lives by putting their financial interests first and providing the right products and services when they need them. Scienaptic's AI-powered credit decisioning platform is a perfect fit for this mission. The cutting-edge AI will help us enhance credit access for members and improve their financial well-being through smarter, faster credit decisions."
DakCU Chief Officer of Strategic Services George McDonald stated this new AI coalition potentially has larger ramifications than just providing a better lending experience for members.
"This alliance represents an opportunity for Dakota credit unions to take advantage of innovation and artificial intelligence in the lending industry. The use of Scienaptic's AI-based credit underwriting platform will play a key role in helping our credit unions grow membership, strengthen charters and provide excellent service to members," McDonald said.
"We are excited for this collaboration as our platform will allow credit unions in the Dakotas to grow their loan portfolios while minimizing their risk. It will also enable them to reach underserved borrowers and enhance member experience," Scienaptic AI President/Co-Founder Pankaj Jain said.
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Michael Ogden
Editor-in-Chief at CU Times. To connect, email at [email protected]. As Editor-in-Chief of CU Times since 2016, Michael Ogden has led the editorial team in all aspects of content strategy and execution, including the creation of the publication’s exclusive and proprietary research database of the credit union industry’s economic landscape. Under Michael’s leadership, CU Times has successfully shifted to an all-digital editorial product with new focuses on the payments, fraud, lending and regulatory beats. Most recently, he introduced a data-focused editorial product for subscribers that breaks down credit union issues into hard data, allowing for a deeper and more factual narrative for readers. In 2024, he launched the "Shared Accounts With CU Times" podcast, which offers a fresh, inside-the-newsroom perspective through interviews with leaders from the credit union industry and the regulatory world. He dives into pressing credit union issues, while revealing the personalities working behind-the-scenes to push the credit union world forward. His background includes years as a radio and TV anchor/reporter and a public relations and digital/social media manager, where he covered the food and music industries, as well as cooperatives and credit unions. Over the years, he has launched numerous exclusive video and podcast series, including a successful series of interactive backstage interviews with musicians at music festivals, showcasing his social media and live streaming production skills.
