2014 Applicant: Benjamin Teske

Benjamin Teske is a 30-year-old Consumer Lending Manager at America’s First Federal Credit Union ($1.33 B) in Birmingham, Alabama, United States.

Project Title
The CORE Loan

Short Pitch
A loan designed to further extend the reach of "credit union members helping strangers in need".

Synopsis
The CORE Loan is a loan product that could possibly change the world. A concept that harkens back to the original core credit union concept of people (depositors) helping strangers in need (borrowers), but taking it to the next level by helping people outside of the membership just because it's the right thing to do. The theory behind the loan is to provide credit unions and their members with a vehicle to fulfill their community responsibilities, and thereby being an example to the world of what can be accomplished when organizations view these community responsibilities as a priority. 

The CORE Loan would be based on a credit union’s closed end unsecured loan’s current lending criteria and terms, but a charitable contribution of n% of the original disbursement amount would be made to local food banks, shelters, kid hunger programs, and abuse shelters within a credit unions community, after a designated seasoning period. The donation percentage would be unique to each participating credit union after considering loss ratios, average life, and weighted average rates, of the their specific portfolio. These analyses would help to assure that these contributions wouldn’t threaten the sustainability, profitability, or future of the credit union.

This of course wouldn’t be a reason to borrow money, but it would be an awesome thing that happens when an applicant borrowers from a participating credit union.

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