Omnio, the Banking as a Service platform Fintech, has announced that its Credit Union business KESHO has partnered with Credit Union Financial Analytics (CUFA), the leading analytics company for managers and trustees of credit unions (CUs). This partnership is a strategic move by Omnio and demonstrates its commitment to the Credit Union sector in the UK and the Republic of Ireland.  It provides a substantial upgrade to the analytical tools available to the Credit Union sector through its Curtains platform. 

CUFA Lending Analytics (CLA) specialises in providing software solutions that apply sophisticated but straightforward and proven statistical techniques to quantify the risks and mathematically determine the potential risks and benefits in a consumer loan portfolio. 

The partnership will allow the CUFA lending analytics engine to work in conjunction with the popular “Curtains” financial management platform. The overriding benefit of this new partnership is that Credit Unions who access the service will gain advanced knowledge of their business lending across its member base. Credit Unions can then deploy their tools to enable risk-based lending against historic data and member behaviour, enabling growth of the Credit Union whilst assessing its risk portfolio and improving lending availability to new and existing members. As a result, the CUFA/Kesho partnership will provide measured, secure and affordable lending to thousands of Credit Union members.   

CUFA Lending Analytics’ computations are based on the detailed recent history of a loan portfolio, including its unique record of write-offs and post-write-off recoveries. Up to 25 months of this information is extracted directly from the “Curtains” platform or the data warehouse, and the resulting database is updated monthly so that recent experience is reflected in CUFA’s outputs.  The CUFA dataset for each lender consists of a comprehensive set of data fields for every loan, as of each month-end for the period maintained. 

Commenting about the partnership CUFA Managing Director Ralph Swoboda said: "We're delighted to form this new partnership with Kesho, which we highly respect as the leading provider of IT solutions to credit unions and other lenders in the UK.  We look forward to working with Kesho to provide its clients with our lending risk analytics solution, which is now used by nearly all the leading credit unions in the Republic of Ireland, as well as by credit unions in the UK and US."  

Declan Mooney, Director of Business Development added: “At CUFA, we are not just a software provider. We are actively engaged in facilitating collaboration and exchange of experience between our clients. This has been very effective in Ireland in the areas of new product development and consolidation. We look forward to sharing that knowledge and experience with our new Curtains based clients.”  

Adrian Cannon, Omnio Group CEO, believes that: “Omnio’s aim is to empower Credit Union’s with affordable technology that lets them compete in the globalised technology driven banking sector without losing sight of their unique local focus. The Credit Union sector represents the best of financial services in its desire to deliver tailored services to individual members based on knowledge and understanding of their needs. CUFA adds a new dimension to this member understanding and will allow the Credit Unions to do more for the communities they serve.” 

Bill Hall, Business Development manager for the Credit Union Sector for OMNIO reinforced this opinion saying: “It’s exciting being part of the Omnio team as we prepare and roll out the development and delivery of these new services to Credit Unions. I have full confidence in the team to continue to support the sector both through “Curtains” as it is now and in the future with the exciting platform developments that are being planned. We are looking forward to working with Credit Unions both large or small to provide the best possible services to communities across the UK and Ireland.”  

Lindsay Ward Executive Director, Credit Union Sector OMNIO commented: “Working with Ralph and the Team at CUFA is a significant development in the evolving Credit Union sector. The CUFA analytics will add real value to all our Credit Union partners and will allow them to lend even more responsibly and fairly. More and more of our partners need enriched data and enhance technology from their suppliers and this is just the first stage of our digital roadmap and we look forward to 2021 and the launch of our next generation digital platform.”  

“Kesho is here to stay and will continue to build products specific to the Credit Union Sector, providing services for all. We continue to listen to the sector. Our next generation digital platform will evolve with direct input from the loyal users of Curtains. Our passion is to deliver excellence within the sector and provide products that enhance the growth and stability of the sector,” concluded Ward.