
Podcasts

Credit Union Conversations
Welcome to Credit Union Conversations podcast with your host, Mark Ritter, a forward-thinking CEO, who excels in helping credit unions, small businesses, and real estate investors succeed.
Join Mark as he explores current trends, interview industry experts, and get fresh insights on optimizing your lending operations and delivering the best possible services to credit union members.
More About Your Host
Mark Ritter is the CEO of MBFS & Nu Direction Lending and an expert in credit unions and business lending. His primary role at MBFS is overseeing the strategy of helping credit unions assist members with business needs and consulting with credit unions on planning the delivery of services to their membership.
In 2002, Mark started a large central Pennsylvania credit union’s business lending program as “one person and a desk” with no policies, products, staff, systems, or business members. That program grew to be one of the top ten in the nation.
In 2012, he took on the challenge of being the CEO of a business lending CUSO. Mark was the fifth CEO in five years for the organization, which lost money every month of its existence. Since joining MBFS, Mark increased the number of credit unions the CUSO and revenue by over 10x and ensured positive cash flow every full year he’s been at the CUSO. More importantly, MBFS has helped countless credit union members gain the financing they need for business and investment needs.
Mark is a native of Berwick, PA in northeast Pennsylvania, where he was a member of his high school’s nationally ranked and state championship football team. After high school, Mark hung up his cleats to work for the Penn State Nittany Lions full-time as a student assistant while attending Penn State as an undergrad. During this time Penn State transitioned to the Big Ten and culminated in Penn State’s first Big Ten Championship and a trip to the Rose Bowl. Mark remains an avid Penn State supporter. Today Mark lives in Bucks County, PA outside of Doylestown with his wife and two teenagers.
Credit Union Conversations Episodes
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Tech Talk With CU South’s Bob West
Guest: Bob West On today’s episode of Credit Union Conversations, Mark is joined by Bob West. Bob, a veteran of credit unions, has been in multiple executive level leadership positions at multiple credit unions and handles all things technology. Listen in as Bob and Mark discuss technology advances and how financial institutions can keep up […]
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Life Of A New Credit Union CEO
Guest: Kelly Botti What is the good, bad, and ugly of getting a coveted CEO job at a large, successful credit union? Kelly Botti of Trumark Financial to talk through the process of moving into a CEO role and lessons learned so far. IN THIS EPISODE: KEY TAKEAWAYS: RESOURCE LINKS: Partner with MBFS or Nu […]
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Mark’s Life Journey
We made it to one year of podcasts! Mark gives a review of the episodes from the past year and how the show has evolved. Mark gives a profile of his experiences and highlights some of the people who have impacted him over the years. Mark also gives his bio, what lessons he has learned, […]
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A Talk with NACUSO’s Jack Antonini
Guest: Jack Antonini Jack and Mark have an insightful conversation into the history and current state of NACUSO. Mark is a big fan of the annual conference and Jack gives a preview of this year. What’s the future of CUSOs look like? Jack and Mark have some thoughts. IN THIS EPISODE: KEY TAKEAWAYS: RESOURCE LINKS: […]
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Kirk Drake & Mark Ritter Solve All The Problems
Guest: Kirk Drake CEO of CU 2.0 CU 2.0’s Kirk Drake and MBFS’s Mark Ritter figure out what is wrong in today’s world and how they can fix it asap! This is round robin and unscripted so you don’t know what will go on in today’s episode. IN THIS EPISODE: KEY TAKEAWAYS: RESOURCE LINKS: Partner […]
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Let’s Wrap Up 2022 with MBFS COO Jeff Lyons
Guest: Jeff Lyons 2022! What a year! Jeff and Mark recap the highs and lows of 2022, where the industry is at now, and what they think the future will look like. Listen in to hear the current trends, the highs and lows of the year, and what they are looking forward to in 2023! […]
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Marketing 101 with Mike Dinneen of American Heritage Credit Union
GUESt: Mike Dinneen An executive level marketing strategist, Mike Dinneen has spent 20 years as a marketing leader in financial services. On this episode of Credit Union Conversations. Mike and Mark chat all about tailing marketing strategies to consumer behaviors and much more. Listen in to learn more! IN THIS EPISODE: KEY TAKEAWAYS: RESOURCE LINKS: […]
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The Journey of Kabir Laiwalla: Leading One Of The Most Unique Credit Unions in America
Guest: Kabir Laiwalla Kabir Laiwalla has been the leader of Platinum FCU for more than 20 years. Founded in December 1999, Platinum FCU is a unique credit union that focuses on serving the financial needs of Shia Imami Ismaili Community Members. Kabir explains how his small credit union fits the needs of their community and […]
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WFH Companies: Good, Great, or Awesome?
Ellen Thorn Page What’s the reality of a work from home company and their staff? On today’s episode, Mark Ritter and Ellen Thorn talk about their experiences managing a work from home staff and the reality of what it is like on a day-to-day basis. Tune in to learn more from Mark and Ellen! IN […]
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Expand Your Commercial Real Estate Portfolio with Craig Page
GUEST Craig Page Mark welcomes our newest executive, Craig Page, to MBFS as the Chief Revenue Officer. Mark and Craig talk about best practices for a national loan origination program and the good/bad of today’s marketplace. They review the results from the first half of 2022 and the outlook for the second half of the […]
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Talking Liquidity & Fintechs
GUESTs Jim Quinn & Rebecca Bacon Need liquidity to fund loans??? This episode is for you. Upgrade is well-established in driving quality assets to credit unions. Now find out how they also bring deposits to your institution as well. IN THIS EPISODE: [01:50] Meet Rebecca and Jim and learn about Upgrade. [03:32] Neobanks and fintechs: […]
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Talking With NCUA Vice Chair Kyle Hauptman
GUEST Kyle Hauptman Today, Mark welcomes a very special guest, NCUA Vice Chair Kyle Hauptman. Kyle shares his journey to his position and some roles of NCUA for credit unions with Mark. They talk about the importance of credit union relationships with fintechs and the new opportunities in blockchain technology. Mark gives credit to how […]
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Succeeding With Faith-Based Lending
GUEST Darren Thompson Darren Thompson of Ministry Partners and Mark Ritter meet up to talk about why faith-based lending and member relationships are a nice complement to any credit union. Faith-based lending has some nuances compared to traditional lending but Darren leads us through the best practices and how to access these community organizations. Many […]
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Learning About Puerto Rico’s Cooperativas
GUEST Rene Vargas Martinez Hurricane Maria and other storms in Puerto Rico have destroyed their power grid system but also their economy. Cooperativas (Puerto Rican credit unions) have had an incredible impact on the stability and recovery of communities in the aftermath. On today’s episode, Rene Vargas Martinez and Mark Ritter discuss how Puerto Rico’s […]
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Credit Union Marketing’s Best Kept Secret
GUEST Matt deLisle Matt deLisle joins Mark Ritter to talk about their journeys in the podcast industry and the impact it has made at MBFS. Matt’s career path has led him to an industry that didn’t exist when he graduated college. Now, he is a leader in the podcast guesting industry. Why does podcasting work […]
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CUSOs: Past, Present, & Future
GUEST Larry Middleman The “OG” of business lending CEOs, Larry Middleman, joins Mark in this episode to talk about credit union collaboration and CUSOs. Larry and Mark talk about the old days when business services were a new concept, how they have evolved, and where the credit union industry is headed in the upcoming years. […]
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Payments In 2022 and Beyond
GUEST Stephanie Hainje On this episode of Credit Union Conversation, Mark & Stephanie Hainje of My Leverage talk about what’s new in payments and how credit unions can use today’s technology to build low-cost deposits. Connecting with digital payment platforms is key to convenience for customers so tune in to learn more on how to […]
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Mid-Year Report on State of the Industry
2022 has seen some wild swings in the financial services industry. As the world returns to in-person communication, the credit union industry is open and booming. In this episode, host Mark Ritter reviews the flourishing first half of 2022 and looks at what is to come the rest of the year. Will the second half […]
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Talking Environmental Risk–Please Listen Anyway
GUEST Derek Ezovski On today’s episode of Credit Union Conversations, Mark is joined by Derek Ezovski. Derek has considerable experience in environmental and property risk management. Spending his entire career helping companies create best practices, Derek shares with us about his business, ORMS, hot-button topics and information on lending and environmental risks to consider. Tune […]
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Solving All the World’s Problems
GUEST Joe Hyatt Joe Hyatt, President of DFTC, Inc., has been involved in credit unions for over 15 years assisting with many aspects of risk management in commercial lending. In this episode, Joe speaks with Mark about the good and bad of today’s lending marketplace as well as challenges faced as a small business owner […]