Financial Lending, Automotive and Marketing Experts to Provide Credit Unions with Strategies for Success in Growing Competitive Marketplace.

Ontario, CA | March 30, 2017

Leading experts and innovators from the worlds of finance and automotive are taking center stage during CU Direct’s upcoming DRIVE ’17 Lending Conference.

In its nineteenth year, DRIVE ’17 is expected to welcome more than 500 credit union lending and marketing attendees to the Cosmopolitan at Las Vegas, May 23-25.

The industry’s largest and most recognized lending conference will offer attendees comprehensive insight to the latest strategies to build stronger, more profitable lending portfolios and to reach more members.

CU Direct’s dynamic speaker line-up for DRIVE ’17 includes a wide range industry experts and headline speakers, including:

• Peter Welch – President/CEO, National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA), representing the interests of over 16,500 franchised auto dealerships in the U.S.
• Jim Carroll – leading global Futurist, Trends & Innovation Expert and best-selling author, featured in BusinessWeek and Fast Company, on ABC News and the CNBC Series, “The Business of Innovation.”
• Elliot Eisenberg, Ph.D. – nationally acclaimed economist and renowned public speaker, and syndicated columnist featured in Bloomberg Businessweek, Forbes, and Fortune
• Tansley Stearns – Chief Impact Officer, Filene Research Institute, and research and innovation expert that has helped organizations move ideas forward to drive business results
• Mark Bowden – world renowned authority on body language, voted the #1 Body Language Professional by Global Gurus for 2014 and 2015, and creator of TRUTHPLANE®
• Maryann Keller – Principal, Maryann Keller & Associates, automotive expert, acclaimed Wall Street Analyst, and best-selling author
• Dr. Neil Goldman, Ed.D., MBA – Senior Partner, Goldman Consulting & Strategy, Inc., strategist, researcher and motivator
• Mike Buckingham – Senior Director, JD Power’s Power Information Network (PIN) Automotive Finance Practice, and indirect auto financing expert
• Andrew Davis, emcee – recognized by CMWorld as one of today’s top Three Most Influential Marketers, best-selling author and CEO of Monumental Shift

The conference includes an extensive line-up of sessions covering a broad spectrum of hot-button industry topics:

• Trends in innovative financial services
• Lending best practices
• Digital marketing strategies
• Harnessing big data
• Risk management
• Combating data breach/ID theft member engagement
• State of today’s automotive landscape

“Our goal is to deliver the industry’s most comprehensive educational and thought leadership forum, providing vital knowledge and strategies to empower credit unions,” noted Tony Boutelle, CU Direct’s president and CEO. “The conference offers real-world lending solutions for today’s competitive marketplace, as it brings together the expertise and straightforward dialogue that will help credit unions successfully grow their loan portfolios, while increasing their value to members.”

Credit unions interested in attending CU Direct’s DRIVE ’17 Conference can visit the event’s website, www.cudirect.com/drive or contact the company’s events department at [email protected].

About CU Direct

For more than twenty years, CU Direct has been a lending technology leader, helping credit unions fund $211 billion in loans. More than 1,100 credit unions rely on CU Direct’s solutions to generate loans, create efficiencies, and grow membership. From CUDL, the industry’s number one auto lending platform, to the industry’s revolutionary Lending 360 Loan Origination System, and Lending Insights dynamic analytic tools, CU Direct develops the technology that helps credit unions advance their lending programs and overall portfolio success. 14,000 auto dealers nationwide use CU Direct’s automotive solutions to connect with credit unions and their members to drive sales and increase their bottom lines. For more information, visit www.cudirect.com. Connect with CU Direct on Twitter and LinkedIn.