BATON ROUGE, La. — Meritrust Credit Union, the largest Kansas-based credit union, is expanding its relationship with Wolters Kluwer Financial Services by joining the company’s AppOne platform. AppOne automates the indirect lending, credit approval and compliance processes for lenders and the auto, RV and marine dealers they work with.

Meritrust can connect with independent auto dealers and more easily determine the level of risk associated with each dealer relationship using AppOne’s proprietary dealer underwriting and scoring system. AppOne also integrates Wolters Kluwer’s Bankers Systems motor vehicle retail installment contracts to document the financing of auto loans.

Together, the AppOne technology and Bankers Systems contracts help ensure compliance with industry regulations, while supporting Meritrust’s growth in the auto lending space. Meritrust produced more auto loans than any other credit union in Kansas from May 2008 to June 2009, according to AutoCount research.

AppOne’s network of auto dealerships will also benefit from this relationship, as it offers the opportunity to connect with another strong lender in the credit union space.

“As credit unions look to increase their auto lending market share, a critical piece of managing that growth is making sure they are working with reputable and compliant dealerships,” said Lee Domingue, CEO of indirect lending at Wolters Kluwer. “AppOne helps credit unions manage risk, while providing dealers with a finance source that they might not have had the opportunity to work with in the past.”

“AppOne helps us connect with more independent auto dealers, which will ultimately help our members,” said Keenan Bender, director of consumer lending at Meritrust. “Wolters Kluwer Financial Services’ comprehensive set of solutions automate time-consuming processes and simplify compliance questions and challenges our staff faces daily.”