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SouthPoint Financial Credit Union recognized for strategy, member service

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Callahan & Associates has recognized SouthPoint Financial Credit Union for its efforts to build sustainability and relevance in its south-central Minnesota market.

SouthPoint Financial is featured in Callahan’s quarterly series “Anatomy Of A Credit Union,” which dives deep to explore the strategies and analyze the performance of an exemplary credit union, due to its ability to meet the challenges of its market while exhibiting strong financial performance. The newest installment is available to read now in the third quarter issue of Credit Union Strategy & Performance.

SouthPoint Financial is a $361.1 million institution headquartered in Sleepy Eye, MN, a town of less than 3,500 people located approximately 100 miles southwest of the Twin Cities. Facing population decline in its field of membership, SouthPoint Financial converted to a state charter in 2015 and expanded its field of membership from seven counties to 17. The credit union has added three branches since then, doubling its footprint, and has revamped its branch design to reflect the needs of a new era.

“We’re a $330 million institution housed in a town of 3,000. We must look at new opportunities and initiatives and take risks,” says the credit union’s CEO, Dick Nesvold.

The credit union’s geographic expansion coincides with its efforts to diversify its loan portfolio. Farm-related business lending historically dominated SouthPoint Financial’s loan portfolio, but economic pressures combined with member needs have spurred a reimagining of the credit union’s balance sheet and pushed the cooperative to invest more seriously in its indirect lending program. The result? Although historically more loaned out than asset-based peers, SouthPoint’s loan-to-share ratio has ticked up even more since area consumers started embracing the indirect auto lending option. Loan delinquencies, on the other hand, remain well below the asset-based peer average.

SouthPoint is performing well in its own right, but its rank in Callahan’s proprietary member value index truly sets it apart. In Callahan’s Return Of The Member index, SouthPoint placed 13th among 337 credit unions with assets of $250 million to $500 million.

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