SANTA MONICA, Calif.–In this, the second in a two-part CU Shopper this week, you’ll find new service integrations, a new AI digital banking platform, fraud detection tools and more, as the CU Daily highlights new offerings in the market, as well as what CUs are buying.
Part one in this series appeared here.
TrueCar Adds SECU, Affinity FCU as Credit Union Partners
SANTA MONICA, Calif. — TrueCar has added State Employees’ Credit Union and Affinity Federal Credit Union as partners as the automotive marketplace expands its credit union business following its January 2026 take-private transaction, the company said.
SECU has more than $60 billion in assets, while Affinity has $4.35 billion. TrueCar said it now works with more than 80 credit unions, including PenFed Credit Union, BCU, Tower Federal Credit Union and Consumers Credit Union.
TrueCar said approximately 20% of credit union members who use its auto-buying program purchase a vehicle through the platform, compared with what it described as an industry conversion average of 2% to 3%. Members may save up to about 9% off MSRP on new vehicles, depending on the vehicle and available incentives.
TrueCar also reported a profitable second quarter and said it has remained profitable since going private.
“We have completed our financial turnaround, and are mid-river on a major product revamp,” founder and CEO Scott Painter said.
The company said it is reinvesting positive cash flow in technology, products and its consumer experience.
FirstClose Integrates Home Equity Order Management With MeridianLink Mortgage
AUSTIN, Texas — FirstClose has launched an integration with MeridianLink that brings its home equity order management capabilities directly into the MeridianLink Mortgage loan origination system, FirstClose said.
The integration is aimed at lenders that manage home equity originations through their mortgage divisions and extends an existing partnership between the companies.
Lenders can access FirstClose’s Order Management System within the MeridianLink Mortgage workflow. The system centralizes valuation and settlement orders, provider coordination and status tracking, allowing employees to monitor loans without switching between systems.
“Lenders that run home equity through their mortgage division have had to stitch together the origination process with tools that were never designed for it,” FirstClose CEO Tedd Smith said.
FirstClose said customers using its order management capabilities have reported reductions in manual processing of about 85%. The company also said home equity turnaround times have fallen to less than two weeks from 30 to 60 days in some cases.
The integration is available to lenders using MeridianLink Mortgage.
MAP, Innovative Business Solutions CUSOs Form Collaboration
SEATTLE and COLUMBIA, S.C. — Member Access Processing and Innovative Business Solutions have formed a collaboration aimed at expanding services and expertise available to credit unions, the two credit union service organizations said.
Member Access Processing, or MAP, specializes in payments, while Innovative Business Solutions, or IBS, focuses on helping credit unions develop and expand business services programs.
The organizations said they will explore opportunities to combine their expertise and provide additional resources to credit unions.
“IBS shares our commitment to credit unions, their members and the communities they serve,” MAP President and CEO Steve Bone said. “By working together, we can create stronger connections and help more credit unions compete regardless of size.”
IBS provides support in commercial lending, business deposits, treasury services, SBA lending, training and strategic planning.
MAP has worked with credit unions for more than 28 years and provides access to Visa payment technology, training and related expertise.
“Credit unions are at their best when they collaborate, and we believe the same is true for CUSOs,” IBS President and CEO Mark Cox said.
iTHINK Financial to Be First Credit Union to Launch Tyfone’s Fathom AI
PORTLAND, Ore. — iTHINK Financial CU will become the first Tyfone customer to deploy Fathom, an artificial intelligence system integrated into the company’s redesigned nFinia digital banking platform, Tyfone said.
The AI-powered service is expected to become available to iTHINK members this fall.
Fathom allows account holders to use natural-language conversations to ask financial questions and receive responses based on their financial information as well as their institution’s products, policies and services. Users can then move from conversations to banking actions within the platform.
“Our members are already turning to AI to answer questions and make financial decisions,” iTHINK Financial CEO Michael Miller said. “We want those conversations to happen within the trusted relationship they’ve built with iTHINK Financial, not somewhere else.”
Tyfone said Fathom operates within its security and compliance infrastructure, with data isolated by institution and interactions logged and auditable. Transactions require account-holder consent, while existing authentication, fraud detection and approval processes remain in place.
Tyfone unveiled the technology as part of its nFinia Reimagined digital banking platform.
Cornerstone Resources Adds Rippleshot Fraud Prevention Partnership
PLANO, Texas — Cornerstone Resources has partnered with Rippleshot to provide fraud-detection tools to more than 600 credit unions represented by Cornerstone across five states, the organizations said.
Cornerstone member credit unions will gain access to Rippleshot’s Fraud Interceptor and Fraud Intelligence Collective.
The tools combine network-level fraud detection with information shared among fraud professionals, allowing participating institutions to identify patterns that may emerge across different geographic markets.
“Fraud is the No. 1 pain point for credit unions in the Cornerstone region and across the nation,” said Ryan Dold, Cornerstone Resources executive vice president and chief revenue officer.
Rippleshot CEO and co-founder Canh Tran said sharing fraud intelligence across Cornerstone’s network could allow an emerging pattern in one market to serve as an early warning elsewhere.
“Fraud doesn’t respect state lines, and neither should the intelligence used to fight it,” Tran said.
Cornerstone said the partnership is intended to give member credit unions access to proactive fraud prevention technology at an affordable cost.
Ohio League’s Navatros Partners With Fuse on AI-Powered Lending Platform
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Navatros, the business solutions division of the Ohio Credit Union League, has partnered with Fuse to make the company’s loan origination and account-opening technology available to credit unions in Ohio and neighboring states, the organizations said.
Fuse’s platform includes loan origination, account opening, an artificial intelligence-generated applicant point-of-sale system, more than 200 prebuilt integrations and a no-code rules engine.
Navatros said the agreement followed about a year of discussions and due diligence.
“We’re excited to partner with Fuse and bring their lending technology to credit unions across Ohio and beyond,” said Kyle Alford, Navatros vice president of sales.
Fuse said more than 100 financial institutions use its technology. Its GenAI Lending Copilot monitors workflows for bottlenecks, while Automation Coaches work with credit unions on process improvements.
The company said clients can achieve automation rates of up to 71% during their first year and that some performance targets are backed by contractual guarantees.
CommStar Credit Union in Elyria is among the Ohio credit unions already using Fuse, the organizations said.
Vikar, SWIVEL Integrate Real-Time Account Funding Technology
ISELIN, N.J. — Vikar Technologies has partnered with SWIVEL to integrate real-time payment processing into Vikar’s digital account-opening platform, the companies said.
The integration allows financial institutions and their fintech partners to fund newly opened accounts directly during the enrollment process.
Through SWIVEL’s application programming interface, Vikar can accept funding from checking and savings accounts as well as credit and debit cards. Card transactions can be authorized immediately, while checking and savings accounts can be debited as early as the next business day.
“By embedding seamless, compliant funding directly into our platform, we help FIs convert more applicants into active account holders from day one,” Vikar CEO Glenn Bolstad said.
The companies said the integration includes real-time ACH validation and processing designed to comply with NACHA and payment-card security requirements.
Automated back-office posting and daily reconciliation reports are also intended to reduce manual processing.
SWIVEL, a subsidiary of SWBC, said the technology can connect with vendor-built, custom or internally developed platforms and includes a manual funding fallback if a technical problem occurs.
