Customer Success Story
A Streamlined Application Process & Improved Member Experience With MeridianLink Consumer
HOW SANDIA LABORATORY FEDERAL CREDIT UNION INCREASED APPLICATIONS BY 168%
Headquarters: Albuquerque, NM
Branch locations: 12
Members: 132,000
Managed assets: $3.2 billion
The Challenge
Simplifying the Loan Process to Meet Members’ Needs
As a community advocate for financial success, Sandia Laboratory Federal Credit Union (SLFCU) offers checking, savings, home mortgages, auto loans, and more to its members in New Mexico and California. During SLFCU’s transition away from indirect partner underwriting, its team uncovered needlessly complex processes holding up application flows. Specifically, loan processors were constantly switching between numerous systems to get applications approved, creating a domino effect in which members were waiting longer to receive approvals and partners were becoming increasingly frustrated with the system’s inefficiency. It wasn’t long before SLFCU determined that to meet member, staff, and partner needs, it had to implement a unified platform that would streamline consumer lending.
The Solution
MeridianLink® Consumer
After exploring several loan origination systems, the credit union’s lending management team decided to
move forward with MeridianLink® Consumer, part of the MeridianLink® One platform. The reason? An easy-to-navigate interface, a sleek look and feel for member-facing applications, and enhanced communication
capabilities to build and strengthen member relationships—all within a single location.
WHY SANDIA LABORATORY FEDERAL CREDIT UNION SELECTED MERIDIANLINK CONSUMER
Enhanced, more personalized member experience and positive relationships with new members.
Substantial growth in total applications and total funded loans since adopting MeridianLink Consumer.
Increased efficiency and more focus on business goals due to improvements in queues, workflows, and task lists.
The Results
Faster Loan Processing, Improved Member Experience
Following a smooth deployment, SLFCU was able to integrate CUDL directly into MeridianLink Consumer, giving the credit union flexibility to benefit from the Dealertrack dealer base. With MeridianLink Consumer, SLFCU was able to realize more efficiencies, improve lending processes, and foster better communication between staff and members. This enabled the lending team to spend more time providing members with personalized service, rather than just managing administrative tasks and data entry, making members feel more valued and inspiring more loyalty to the credit union. SLFCU has achieved dramatic results using MeridianLink’s easy online application portal and powerful cross-selling capabilities. In the first year, the credit union saw steady and significant growth, experiencing a 168% uptick in applications year-over-year (YoY). Funded applications increased by 135%—totaling an additional 3,300 applications—in the first year using MeridianLink Consumer. And thanks to this streamlined system, the cumbersome application process that once took 30 minutes now takes just seven to 10 minutes, creating the quick and easy experience consumers have come to expect. Following these successes, SLFCU decided to also add MeridianLink® Opening to its MeridianLink One system to create a smooth online account opening process for indirect members. With MeridianLink One’s unified platform, SLFCU continues to offer high value and outstanding personal service to its members while better empowering its partners.
