CUNA MUTUAL, STATE NATIONAL SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETE ACCOUNT TRANSITIONS

Collateral Protection Insurance Partners Poised to Add New Credit Union Customers

Madison, Wis. and Bedford, Texas - CUNA Mutual Group and State National Companies have successfully transitioned several hundred tracked collateral protection insurance credit union accounts from CUNA Mutual to State National and are taking on new business.

In July 2009, CUNA Mutual and State National formed an alliance to expand automobile CPI to credit unions nationwide. The alliance delivers both immediate and long-term benefits to credit unions and their members by combining the resources of State National, the only company that provides collateral protection insurance as its core focus, with CUNA Mutual, a leading provider of financial services to credit unions with an unmatched commitment to the credit union marketplace.

CPI protects the collateral on credit unions' loan portfolios against uninsured physical damage exposures. Tracked programs generate notices to members who aren?t in compliance with their loan agreement to maintain a minimum level of physical damage insurance. When proof of insurance is not provided, a policy is placed on the collateral to protect the credit union should the collateral become damaged and have to be repossessed.

In the alliance, State National assumed underwriting, claims processing, customer service and insurance tracking responsibilities for all of CUNA Mutual's tracked collateral protection insurance business.

"Every credit union transition was executed on schedule thanks to the flawless coordination of the State National and CUNA Mutual teams, demonstrating the power of the alliance in the market," said Erik Vandermause, CUNA Mutual collateral protection insurance product leader.

The State National/CUNA Mutual alliance created linkages for key program components, thereby eliminating the traditional hassles of program conversions. "The transition process from CUNA Mutual to State National was seamless for us," said Robert L. Crump, vice president of consumer lending at Centra Credit Union.

"We are delighted that Centra has completed the transition to State National along with many other CUNA Mutual customers," said Trace Ledbetter, senior vice president at State National. "CUNA Mutual and State National have a long history of serving the credit union industry, and we are proud to continue that tradition through the alliance."

That coordination at Centra continues now that the transition has been completed. "The flow of business through State National has been very smooth from day one," Crump said. "Whenever we send a request to State National, it gets handled in a timely manner with good attention to detail, which benefits our relationships with our members."

State National offers InsurTrak, a leading-edge tracking and program management platform, and myloaninsurance.com, an online tool that allows members to submit proof of private insurance, which makes program administration efficient and cost-effective.

Those tracking services are essential to Centra. "State National's online tools make it easy to follow up on notification letters and any questions that arise," said Crump. "We have more than 18,000 loans on the books, and there's no way we could track those on our own. State National handles that job expertly while ensuring the loans we make are well protected."

"The alliance has proven it delivers on its promises," added Vandermause. "We have a proven transition process credit unions can count on, and we are ready and eager to take on new business."

Credit unions interested in getting more information about the CPI alliance should contact their CUNA Mutual sales executive.