Velera and RAI Collaborate on Credit Acceptance Programs

Velera and RAI Partners have teamed up to offer credit unions access to solutions that include turn-down programs and portfolio acquisitions.

The two credit union service organizations (CUSOs) will work together to provide these RAI Partners offerings, they said in a Wednesday (Oct. 30) press release emailed to PYMNTS.

RAI Partners’ turn-down programs run parallel to a credit union’s existing card program and are designed to help them accept applicants who would otherwise be declined, according to the release.

The company’s portfolio acquisition suite helps credit unions optimize and grow their acquired credit card portfolios by adding features and functionality, managing day-to-day activities and generating new data, insights and leads, per the release.

“We are proud to be working alongside Velera — an organization that holds similar values and goals — to advance credit union growth now and into the future,” RAI Partners Co-founder and CEO Ed Preuss said in the release.

Velera EVP, Chief Growth Officer Brian Scott said in the release: “We are pleased to partner with RAI Partners to extend our services and offerings into two spaces that we believe can truly elevate a credit union’s operations and garner success.”

Fifty-four percent of credit unions with less than $1 billion in assets are investing in payments innovation to attract new members, according to the PYMNTS Intelligence and Velera collaboration, “2024 Credit Union Innovation Readiness Index.”

The report also found that 97% of the top-performing credit unions said partnering with others is an important part of their payment innovation process.

In another recently announced partnership, Velera said Oct. 15 that it launched a collaboration with Arroweye Solutions and chose that company as a provider of card production, personalization and fulfillment for Velera’s debit and credit card portfolio.

The CUSO also teamed up with banking software company Kinective, saying Oct. 8 that this collaboration gives Velera’s credit union clients access to Kinective’s integration technology designed to eliminate the development challenges typically found when introducing new software products into a “diverse ecosystem of core banking systems.”

In September, the CUSO launched the Velera Innovation Alliance (VIA), which brings together credit union executives to explore cutting-edge technologies and other ways to drive the competitiveness of credit unions in the digital financial ecosystem.