Cleveland Selfreliance FCU Partners with Xetus to Serve Ukrainian-American Community’s Mortgage Needs

For Immediate Release
Cindy Golisch
cindy.golisch@prunlimited.com
480/471-8820

The adoption of Palo Alto, CA-based Xetus’ (www.xetus.com) XetusOne Loan Management System (LMS) by Cleveland Selfreliance Federal Credit Union, based in Parma, Ohio, has substantially enhanced loan operations through the LMS’ affordability and ease-of-use. The $81 million-asset credit union serves a niche market, the Ukrainian-American community, and has originated mortgage loans since its inception more than 50 years ago. The recent switch to XetusOne allowed for the comprehensive management of a loan—including origination, subordination or modification—and proved a critical move in the right direction under current economic conditions, says Loan Officer Irene Bycko. “XetusOne has enabled us to get up to speed and become more efficient in our loan processing so that we can better serve our members. We are a family oriented credit union, so we do not flatly decline a loan; we work on providing loans consistent with the needs of our Ukrainian membership.”

Many of the credit union’s members are bilingual, while some may not speak English, says Bycko. Many are immigrants and work several jobs, while gaining fluency in English so they can improve their socio-economic standing. The credit union focuses on assisting their cultural transition and assimilation by making their financial transactions, including borrowing to purchase a home, a relatively painless process. Any change that increases efficiency in its mortgage lending operations, and hence the ability to better serve its Ukrainian members, is welcomed, she explains.

Per-Loan Pricing is Vital Advantage

XetusOne’s affordability was the initial attraction for Cleveland Selfreliance. “Xetus only charges a small fee per loan processed, so its pricing was key to our decision to choose XetusOne,” says Bycko. With a membership of 4,400, the credit union needed to seek out a cost-effective solution.

XetusOne eliminates major upfront costs, per-seat or per-user fees, and annual maintenance charges, so any credit union, regardless of asset size, can viably adopt the LMS, unlike traditional server-based software. The absence of capital costs associated with traditional server-based software further highlights XetusOne’s affordability because traditional server-based software requires time and effort toward maintaining hardware and software configurations, which invariably creates awkward workflow interruptions.

Easy Navigation and Embedded Logic Accelerates Users’ Comfort Level
XetusOne’s embedded logic and intuitive interface are the primary reasons behind users’ quick learning curve. For Bycko, the experience of mastering XetusOne was remarkably painless. “The learning curve was surprisingly quick and rapidly increased my comfort level,” said Bycko, whose native language is not English, much like the majority of her credit union’s membership. “I was extremely nervous, at first, because I am generally uncomfortable with technical systems and computers. But XetusOne was particularly easy to navigate.” Because of her early uneasiness, Bycko was in constant contact with Xetus’ customer service, which assisted her through the first application she processed. “For my second loan application, however, I completed 90 percent through XetusOne without any assistance,” she noted.

Bycko also added that Cleveland Selfreliance chose XetusOne for its easy set-up and navigation. XetusOne’s “Software-as-a-Service” model allows users to originate, process, and close loans via the Internet through a standard Web browser, while Xetus ensures the LMS remains compliant with ever-changing regulations without interfering with users’ work.

Bycko says that before the adoption of XetusOne, the credit union’s loan processing included manual retrieval and input of borrowers’ assets and liabilities. “XetusOne automates that step for us by connecting directly to the credit bureaus and uploading liabilities from those agencies,” she commented. The switch from a competitor’s platform to XetusOne increased the speed of loan processing, ultimately freeing up more time to devote to customer service.

About Xetus

Xetus (www.xetus.com) pioneered the development of “software as a service” (Saas) in the mortgage industry. Users access its service through standard Internet web browsers, while Xetus updates the product transparently. Xetus provides powerful, easy-to-use mortgage loan processing to lenders, brokers, service providers and investors collaboratively in real-time over the Internet in a secure environment. Xetus is partnered with some of the country’s major credit organizations, underwriting and selling entities, mortgage insurers, automatic valuation and compliance providers.

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