ONTARIO, Calif. — CU Direct announced record originations in 2016, and that the company’s board of directors has approved a 3% cash dividend to its 108 credit union shareholders for a record 12th consecutive year.

Credit unions funded 1.4 million loans through CU Direct’s Lending 360 and CUDL lending platform, generating a record $30 billion in credit union auto loans in 2016 and surpassing the $26 billion in loans the company funded in 2015. Since 2013, CU Direct credit unions have increased auto loans by 55.6%.

Additionally, the company helped its credit union partners increase loan growth by 16% in 2016, the highest loan origination growth rate among the Top 9 finance sources in the nation, according to data from AutoCount. As a result, CU Direct credit unions, as an aggregate, became the second largest auto finance segment in the nation.

Including the 55 new credit unions the company added in 2016, CU Direct’s network now includes 1,048 credit unions serving 44.5 million members.

“We are pleased to provide a strong return on investment to our shareholders for the 12th consecutive year,” said Tony Boutelle, president and CEO of CU Direct. “Credit unions continue to demonstrate that they can compete with banks and win in the auto lending marketplace; our goal is to deliver innovative lending technology and solutions that help credit unions improve efficiencies to get to ‘Yes’ faster and make more loans.”