NEW YORK–Fuse, an AI-native loan origination and account opening platform, has introduced the “Fuse Rescue Fund,” which it describes as a $5 million initiative to “liberate credit unions from long-term contracts with legacy technology vendors.”
According to the company, he first 50 qualifying credit unions will receive the full use of the Fuse platform free of charge until their existing LOS contract expires, and then transition to a subscription with Fuse. “That subscription is a flat, annual pricing model with no implementation fees, no variable fees, and no hidden costs,” the company said.
“Credit unions aren’t losing members because they lack heart, they’re losing them because their technology can’t keep up,” Fuse Cofounder Andres Klaric said in a statement. “Legacy platforms create a widening gap between what members expect and what the system can deliver: hidden fees, glacial change cycles, restricted data access, and zero path to automation. That gap is where fintechs are winning. Fuse exists to close it.”
End of the SaaS Squeeze
According to Fuse, for years, credit unions have been caught in a “slow squeeze by private-equity-owned vendors that have weaponized friction by charging six-figure implementation fees, five-figure tolls for basic configuration changes, and restricting data access to force renewals.”
Fuse stated that fintech lenders have surged from 5% to nearly 40% of loan market share in just five years, while the number of federally insured credit unions has declined more than 30% in the last decade.
“The era of the change order is dead,” Klaric said in the statement. “Legacy SaaS vendors built their businesses on friction. The harder it is for you to leave or change your system, the more the system providers profit. Credit unions aren’t losing market share because they lack the will to serve their members, they’re losing because they’re fighting a modern war with tools from the 1990s. We built Fuse to be a generational business that realigns incentives. We don’t get paid to lock you in; we get paid to automate your work. And we’re setting aside $5 million to prove it.”
The Rescue Offer: Free Until You Leave
In making its announcement, Fuse said it was founded on the bet that the right response to AI is not to preserve legacy margins, but to pass those savings directly to the institutions that need them most.
The Rescue Fund includes, according to the company:
- Zero Cost Transition: Free access to the full platform during the transition period.
- Flat Pricing: A flat $100,000 per year ($50,000 for smaller institutions) thereafter.
- No Hidden Fees: No implementation fees. No per-transaction charges. No fine print.
Proactive Automation, Guaranteed in the Contract
Fuse further stated that Rescue Fund participants are not swapping one static system for another.
“Fuse is the industry’s first Proactive Automation platform: a GenAI Lending Copilot that continuously monitors manual workflows, detects bottlenecks, and proactively recommends fixes,” the company said. Dedicated Automation Coaches meet with each credit union bi-weekly to implement those recommendations, helping clients achieve up to 71% automation within their first year. Fuse backs these outcomes with contractual guarantees: automation rates, integration timelines, Core field access, and support SLAs.
Current Clients
Fuse said it is already powering more than 100 financial institutions, ranging from Navigant Credit Union ($4 billion in assets) to community-scale partners such as Canopy Credit Union ($200 million in assets). FIS Global was recently announced as the official reseller of Fuse “after extensive peer diligence,” the company said.
