News

Fundamentals of Lending

Published Date: Jul 27, 2021

Consumer lending is an art, not a science. Adjudicating credit requires the gathering of personal and financial data from a variety of sources, careful analysis, and proactively looking for even more opportunities. In today’s competitive market, a leader must understand the fundamentals of lending in order to give professional, relevant advice, grow the business, and control the risks.

Join our upcoming cohort CUIC 210: Consumer and Residential Mortgage Lending to gain foundational knowledge on the underlying concepts for credit adjudication and underwriting that are universal to all lending situations, regardless of a credit union’s banking system or loans origination process. Understanding these concepts is essential to becoming the subject matter expert that our members depend on for advice and member-centric solutions.

Top 3 reasons past participants have enrolled in this cohort:

  • To gain confidence as a lender
  • To better understand the importance of member interviews
  • To gain more knowledge about delinquency and repayment concerns

This course provides practical knowledge that can be applied directly to a learner’s role.

Participants report a 46% increase in their level of confidence after completing the course.

Many CUIC learners tell us that CUIC 210 Consumer and Residential Mortgage Lending helped them make solid credit decisions with their members. They’ve also reported being able to apply the 9 major components of the investigation process to achieve a consistent approach to mortgage lending.

“I learned to ask the right questions when conducting an interview with a member and being up to date on the policies and procedures for my Credit Union. The assignments were really helpful in giving me the knowledge I needed to do well in my job.”

Fall 2021 cohort participant

Of her past participants, CUIC 210 facilitator Kathy Clutterbuck has said:

“I have had many many students tell me over the years that they ‘now get it’.  They have been doing the lending function, but now they actually understand why they are doing what they are doing.  It has completed the circle.  They have also stated that they understand how their role fits into the overall bottom line of their credit unions success and how important their role actually is.”

CCUA Campus login is required. To request an account email clientsolutions@ccua.com.

Bonus: Earn Digital Credentials!

44% of participants took the course as part of an accreditation

This course also counts as credit towards CUIC’s industry-recognized Consumer and Residential Mortgage Lender Accreditation and the Financial Service Representative Accreditation. If you are already on the learning path for either of these programs – this course will get you one step closer to earning a digital credential!

If you haven’t yet signed up for one of our free learning paths – learn more about the accreditation programs and learning paths available here.

Benefits of Joining a Cohort

Join our upcoming cohort for an engaging and collaborative learning experience where you will get to interact with the facilitator, as well as other credit union employees.

CUIC facilitator, and former credit union CEO, Rick Vaillancourt is passionate about the benefits of learning through a cohort and says:

“Learners are fulfilled with their participation and new learnings as they become more knowledgeable and confident. Cohorts also offer flexibility to participate from wherever the learner is, at whatever time they wish. ”


The cohort runs for 12 weeks and provides learning that can be applied directly back to the job. The cohort is comprised of:

Weekly, asynchronous modules

Learners will be responsible for reviewing a module each week from the course study guide that can be completed asynchronously, at their own pace.

Facilitated, online, peer-to-peer discussion each week. Throughout the program, learners will have access to a subject matter expert in the in the weekly discussion area. Here, they can interact with the facilitator or their credit union peers. Each week, faculty will post a series of questions about the weekly module. These are designed to help learners practice, explore and apply what they are learning. The faculty allow a week for learners to respond with their answers, then will post the response. Participation is worth 10% of the final mark.

Formal assignments There are two, case-study based assignments that must be completed by each learner. These are submitted to faculty for marking and are worth 40% of your final mark.

Final exam Each learner must pass the final exam for their CUIC course with a minimum of 60%. The final exams are written and administered by Dalhousie University are worth 50% of your final mark. There are 100 multiple choice questions that must be completed within 120 minutes.

CCUA Campus login is required. To request an account email clientsolutions@ccua.com.