Lending & Credit Risk Member Business Lending Small Business Lending

Tennessee Valley Federal Credit Union partners with Abrigo for faster small business loan decisioning and higher efficiency

Asset size

$3 billion

Product

Small business lending software

Results

~25% increase in loans processed

About the financial institution

Tennessee Valley Federal Credit Union (TVFCU), a not-for-profit financial cooperative, was established in 1936 when 57 Chattanooga TVA employees pooled $500 to create the member-owned credit union. Today, TVFCU serves more than 174,000 members who live, work, worship, volunteer or attend school throughout the 17-county service community. With more than $3 billion in assets and 29 branches throughout the area, TVFCU is the largest credit union in Southeast Tennessee. For more information about TVFCU, please visit tvfcu.com.

Download the full case study

Summary:

When Tennessee Valley Federal Credit Union (TVFCU) sought to streamline its lending process and improve efficiency, the team turned to Abrigo’s Small Business Lending solution. Facing inefficiencies from managing two separate loan operating systems, TVFCU implemented Abrigo Small Business Lending to unify processes, increase automation, and handle higher loan volumes. Within months, the credit union achieved significant operational improvements, including a 48% auto-decision rate, reduced manual work, and a ~25% increase in loans processed.

"Auto-decisioning changed the game. The decision model being able to look at the parameters that you set and make a decision for you before you even have to look at it is extremely valuable."

Marah Wood, Business Loan Servicing Lead, TVFCU

The results: Measurable improvement aligned with institutional goals

After implementing Abrigo’s solution, TVFCU saw measurable improvements in efficiency and lending capacity, reaching the largest ever volume and dollar amount in the credit union’s history.

"We're definitely seeing an increase in the number of loans that we can handle,” Wood said. “We're able to do a significantly larger amount of these deals than we were before having the software because we were losing out on the ones we didn't get to."

The team estimates it saw a 25% increase in the number of loans it takes on with the help of Abrigo Small Business Lending. The automation came atthe perfect time, aligned directly with the creditunion’s organizational goals.