CU Direct Corporation on Jan. 21 announced the appointment of Kip Haas as senior vice president/chief information officer and the promotion of Jerry Neemann to chief operations officer of Credit Union Direct Lending, the nation’s largest lending network for credit unions.

With the continued expansion into new markets and new corporate technology initiatives, CU Direct saied the current round of management additions and reorganizations will improve support services for its member credit unions and auto dealerships.

“The CUDL program experienced tremendous growth during this past year, with a 48 percent increase in total auto financing and the addition of four new states to the network,” said Tony Boutelle, president and CEO, CU Direct Corp. “The new management structure will help facilitate the continued growth of the CUDL system in new markets and provide strategic direction for all upcoming products and services throughout the organization.”

As the chief information officer, Kip Haas will be responsible for development and implementation of new technology for the CUDL program. Prior to joining CU Direct Corp., Haas served for many years with First American Title where he held posts as vice president and CIO, vice president of Retail Software, division manager for National Lenders, and director of technology.

Haas also worked for five years as a consulting manager for Grant Thornton in Los Angeles. He holds a bachelor degree in Finance from California State Polytechnic University—Pomona.

Under the reorganization, Jerry Neemann, currently senior vice president of business development has been promoted to senior vice president and chief operations officer. Neemann, who has been with the company since 1998, will be responsible for overseeing the strategic development and operations sales and services in all regional business units.

Additional management changes include the appointment of John Carrington, recently the regional director, Northern California, to vice president sales and operations; Evan Etheridge, regional director, Northeast region will relocate to the headquarters office in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., and hold the position of national sales director; and Phil Maniaci will fill the position of Northeast regional director.

Sean Kelly, who was instrumental in CUDL’s expansion into the states of Texas, Florida, North Carolina and Virginia, will fill the newly created position of Southeast regional director.

This past year the CUDL program experienced tremendous growth, success, and expansion into four new states. During 2003 participating credit unions funded 245,175 auto-financing contracts through the CUDL system, which generated more than $4.8 billion in credit union auto financing, up 48 percent over the $3.3 billion reported at the end of 2002.

About Credit Union Direct Lending

Based in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., CU Direct Corp. administers the credit union owned Credit Union Direct Lending (CUDL) program, which allows members to receive credit union financing at the auto dealership through an automated decisioning system.

CU Direct develops custom applications, training, and marketing programs to help credit unions achieve their indirect lending goals. The CUDL program includes 2,270 dealerships and 280 participating credit unions in California, Nevada, Texas, Oregon, Washington, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Florida, Minnesota, Virginia, and North Carolina.

For more information visit www.cudirect.com.