Leading Members to Financial Stability

THE EVERYDAY LIFE STRUGGLES captured in the music of Vince Neil, lead singer for Motley Crew, resonate with Scott Wiggins, who has enjoyed the band’s music—and the stories behind it—since the mid-1980s.

That’s because in his position as vice president of loss prevention and card services for $4 billion asset Lake Michigan Credit Union (LMCU) in Grand Rapids, Mich., Wiggins works with members who often are adjusting to changing financial circumstances and sometimes experiencing financial hardships.

For Wiggins, it’s all about boosting members’ knowledge to improve their financial outlook and avoid future troubles.

“His leadership inspires creative and innovative solutions, including member-focused default counseling that both saves memberships and improves the financial stability of members experiencing hardships,” explains Steve Vandelier, LMCU’s default and loss mitigation manager.

Guiding members to their own improved financial health leads to an improved bottom line for the credit union as well. “This is proven by our overall delinquency rate of just 0.09% in the first quarter of 2015,” notes Vandelier.

“Scott also has led his teams to improved fraud prevention and member education about scams and ID theft,” Vandelier adds. And that also has been instrumental in LMCU reaching a top 10% position in performance for credit unions with more than $1 billion in assets.

“Scott promotes an environment of continuous improvement and one of his best qualities is his approachability and willingness to work alongside those he leads,” says Vandelier.

Wiggins, who joined the credit union in 2003 as a branch manager has worked in many areas of the credit union—marketing, leasing, consumer lending, and now loss prevention and card services. And he doesn’t see himself anywhere else, noting he expects to continue in the credit union industry for the remainder of his professional career.

“I love credit unions,” Wiggins says. “Our CEO, Sandra Jelinski, instills in everyone at LMCU that we treat all of our members and employees with respect and we let them know that we’re here for them. This approach has been a main reason our credit union has been so successful since its inception in 1933.”