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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Connecting Credit Unions & America’s Small Businesses
Guest: Andy Turner If you like college football talk sprinkled in with your credit union talk, this is the episode for you. Mark and Andy catch up on Penn State football before a deep dive into how LoanStar helps credit unions and the current lending/regulatory environment. IN THIS EPISODE: KEY TAKEAWAYS: RESOURCE LINKS: Mark Ritter…
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Yes, Loans Will Go Bad. Let’s Start To Plan.
Guest: Craig Page Your portfolio is clean now, and “everyone is paying.” Good loans sometimes go bad, and it will undoubtedly happen to your portfolio at some point. Craig and Mark talk about the history lessons of the Great Recession and how to tackle your portfolio in the future when bumps in the road happen.…
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Great Works of the Credit Union Industry
Guest: Sue Ward-Diorio Let’s talk about some of the great things credit unions do every day! The CrossStates Foundation executes the playbook on many of the wonderful initiatives for our industry. Sue and Mark talk about what goes on behind the scenes carrying out this crucial mission of credit unions. IN THIS EPISODE: KEY TAKEAWAYS:…
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Checking In With Launch CU’s Joe Mirachi
Guest: Joe Mirachi Joe and Mark talk about the state of the industry and what we see on the horizon. Joe also gives a profile of his strategy for investing in CUSOs and what he looks for in a CUSO investment. IN THIS EPISODE: KEY TAKEAWAYS: RESOURCE LINKS: Mark Ritter – Website Joe Mirachi –…
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Talking Compliance with Rick Wargo
Guest: Rick Wargo Mark & Rick travel down a compliance journey today to talk about best practices in compliance and some of the pitfalls of not keeping on top of it at your organization. Connect with Rick and his team at https://compliance4creditunions.com/ IN THIS EPISODE: KEY TAKEAWAYS: RESOURCE LINKS: Mark Ritter – Website Compliance…
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PPP Loans Unfiltered: Part II
Guest: Omar Shute It’s time to take a walk down memory lane and review the wackiest and wildest loan program ever: the Paycheck Protection Program. Omar Shute of DFTC and Jeff Lyons of MBFS joined us for a topic that we couldn’t fit into just one episode. IN THIS EPISODE: KEY TAKEAWAYS: RESOURCE LINKS: Mark…
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PPP Loans Unfiltered: Part I
Guest: Omar Shute It’s time to take a walk down memory lane and review the wackiest and wildest loan program ever: the Paycheck Protection Program. Omar Shute of DFTC and Jeff Lyons of MBFS joined us for a topic that we couldn’t fit into just one episode. IN THIS EPISODE: KEY TAKEAWAYS: RESOURCE LINKS: Mark…
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Why Are We Over Budget On Credit Reports?
Guest: Sean Higgins Sean and Mark hit up a variety of topics to talk about the state of the mortgage industry today and how lenders can keep up with all the necessary compliance. Also, why have credit unions gotten so complicated? Mark and Sean take a deep dive into credit reporting and where it was,…
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Do you REALLY Want To Help Businesses Grow?
Guest: PAT TRUE We all say we want to help small businesses but sometimes struggle to help growing businesses meet their cash flow demands. Mark and Pat talk about the challenges of wrapping your head around the credit culture, risk, and management of properly funding small business owners at the credit union. IN THIS EPISODE:…
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Talking Credit in 2023 and Beyond
Guest: Kristina Paulson What’s changed since the last time Kristina was on the show? A lot. Mark and Kristina talk through what it is like to analyze and decide on lending in today’s “new normal.” IN THIS EPISODE: KEY TAKEAWAYS: RESOURCE LINKS: Mark Ritter – Website BIO: Kristina Paulson is the AVP of Credit Services…
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Talking Lending in 2023 and Beyond
Guest: Dustin Holmberg After talking about the boom times in the pandemic, Mark and Dustin reset about what it takes to manage the sales and strategy for a large credit union in 2023 and beyond. Mark and Dustin do quite a bit of prognostication in this episode, so we will revisit it next year to…
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Attracting & Retaining Talent At Your Credit Union
Guest: Kirk Kordeleski Kirk and Mark talk about the state of today’s credit union industry and attempt to solve all the current climate issues. Kirk talks to Mark about the challenges for credit unions today in attracting and retaining the best talent. IN THIS EPISODE: KEY TAKEAWAYS: RESOURCE LINKS: Mark Ritter – Website OM Financial…
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So You Want To Do Construction Loans?
Guest: Mike Kosmoski Mark and Mike try to demystify one of the complex and rewarding lending areas that can also be filled with pitfalls and peril if not done properly. Learn a bit about Mike’s construction management history and what support exists for construction lending at credit unions. IN THIS EPISODE: KEY TAKEAWAYS: RESOURCE LINKS:…
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Best of the Best in Loan Software
Guest: Will Cameron What is the one system used by the majority of the 20 largest banks in the USA and MBFS? It’s nCino. They are a longtime partner of MBFS, and in this episode, Will Cameron and Mark catch up on the latest nCino news and what is happening in the loan systems industry…
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What Keeps You Up At Night?
Guest: Zach Douglass What keeps you up at night at your credit union? Many of us worry about fraud and data protection constantly. Zach Douglass lives on that very topic every day for credit unions nationwide. Learn what it is like to live this topic day in and day out and what your credit union…
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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…