Credit unions in Georgia, New Jersey and Washington became partners in the fourth quarter of GrooveCar Direct, an online car buying and lending platform.

The platform is offered by GrooveCar Inc., a Farmingdale, NY company launched in 1999 to help credit unions manage auto loans. Its website says it now has more than 350 credit union customers.

GrooveCar Direct is a white label platform that allows credit union members to access their credit union’s website to buy cars and hopefully get their loan directly through their credit union .

The idea is similar to CarSaver. CUNA Mutual Group announced earlier this month that it has invested in CarSaver to provide credit unions with another tool to counter the marketing clout and technological prowess of a growing number of online sellers who typically bypass credit unions. credit for loans.

These new online sales models have reduced credit union auto loans, which make up about a third of credit union portfolios. CUNA estimates that new car balances for all credit unions fell 2% and used car loans increased 9.4% in the 12 months ending Nov. 30.

The three credit unions, which together had $366.4 million in assets and 33,545 members as of Dec. 31, had declining auto loan balances last year. Their new car loan balances fell 5.2% to $21.7 million, while used car balances fell 0.5% to $61.5 million.

The three credit unions are:

1. Caisse Populaire des Marais of Brunswick, Ga. ($202.2 million, 17,256 members), where the new car loan balance ended 2021 at $8.9 million, up 21.6% from the year previous year, while used car loans increased 9.7% to $36.2 million.
2. Federal Credit Union Healthcare Employees of Princeton, NJ ($143.8 million, 16,289 members), where new car loans fell 18.8% to $10.6 million, while used car loans fell by 16.4% to $23.4 million.
3. Federal Community Health Care Credit Union of Everett, Wash. ($20.4 million in assets, 1,416 members), where new auto loans fell 12.7% to $2.2 million last year, while auto loans used more than doubled to $2 million.

Along with the three credit unions, GrooveCar Direct added 24 credit unions in 2021, after adding 25 credit unions in 2020 and 71 in 2019.

The company says GrooveCar Direct “makes it easy for credit unions to engage their auto buying members and drive auto loan growth through a customizable, easy-to-implement, and fully scalable platform. Members can browse local dealership inventory, search for vehicles within their budget, and apply for financing from a credit union, all from the comfort and safety of their own home. »