How a former airline credit union dominates RV loans
Lifestyle changes intensified by the pandemic have made recreational vehicles hot sellers, and Alliant Credit Union is flying high off its RV portfolio.
An airline-based credit union is flying high in the land yacht business. Over the past several years, Alliant Credit Union ($14.0B, Chicago, IL) has built a recreational vehicle loan portfolio that is worth $1.3 billion and growing fast.
Membership for Alliant — formerly United Airlines Employees’ Credit Union — is available through hundreds of affiliations, which allows easy entry for indirect borrowers. In fact, Jason Osterhage, the cooperative’s chief banking officer, says Alliant makes more than 90% of its RV loans through an indirect lending operation that includes more than 200 dealers and strategic relationships with key corporate dealer groups that operate stores nationwide.
“Although our dealer network is national, our most productive store-level relationships are concentrated in Florida, Arizona, California, and Texas,” Osterhage says.
Account executives at Alliant support dealers within individual regions. The credit union conducts a brisk business, but it’s quick to spread the wealth among other credit unions.
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