If you’ve ever had to process loan payments the old-fashioned way—think spreadsheets, manual entry, and a whole lot of crossing your fingers—you know it’s about as fun as a root canal.
PECU, a Texas credit union with over 20,000 members, decided they’d had enough of the headache and brought in CheckAlt‘s LoanPay solution to bring their loan payment processing into the 21st century.
Here’s the thing: PECU had a particular challenge on their hands. A big chunk of their members were what they call “indirect borrowers”—people who became members purely to get a loan, not necessarily to dive into the full banking relationship. These folks wanted to make their payments quickly without jumping through hoops like opening checking accounts or navigating clunky online banking portals. Makes sense, right?
The old system? Let’s just say it wasn’t winning any efficiency awards. Manual processes meant multiple teams had to get involved for basic transactions, errors crept in regularly, and nobody had a clear picture of what was actually happening with payments at any given moment.
What Changed After Going Live
Enter CheckAlt’s LoanPay platform. Since implementing the solution, PECU has seen some pretty solid wins. The credit union cut down processing errors, saved time across multiple departments, and—here’s a nice bonus—extended their payment cutoff times by three hours. That means borrowers who remember at 5 PM that their payment is due can actually still get it done that day.
“Many of our indirect borrowers are members by necessity, not by engagement, so they’re looking for a quick and easy way to make payments,” explained Gregg Curtin, Vice President of IT at PECU. “We needed a solution that simplified the loan payment experience while reducing manual back-end work. CheckAlt provided us with a clean interface, flexible payment options, and measurable time savings across our teams.”
The Bigger Picture for Credit Unions
PECU isn’t alone in wrestling with outdated payment processes. Credit unions everywhere are trying to figure out how to modernize without turning their operations upside down or requiring a computer science degree to process a payment.
“Credit unions are looking for ways to modernize payment operations without adding complexity,” said Jason Schwabline, Chief Commercial Officer at CheckAlt. “LoanPay helps credit unions meet borrowers where they are, making it easier to pay while giving internal teams a cleaner, more efficient way to manage loan payment workflows.”
The LoanPay platform handles payments across the board—auto loans, business loans, mortgages, and personal loans. Borrowers can pay via ACH or card, and here’s the kicker: there’s a guest payment option that doesn’t require logging in at all. Meanwhile, on the backend, built-in validation and reporting tools help staff catch errors before they become problems and make reconciliation actually manageable.
Sometimes the best technology upgrades are the ones that just make life easier for everyone involved. Borrowers get a painless way to pay, staff spend less time on tedious manual work, and everyone can actually see what’s happening with payments in real time. That’s a win worth talking about.
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WISCUB Service Center expands solutions for Wisconsin CUs with CheckAlt