Creating a Member-First Lending Experience: Inside TruStage’s New Digital Purchase Journey

August 27, 2025

By Corrin Maier, Vice President, Lending Payment Protection, TruStage

A key challenge for credit unions is helping members manage financial concerns. The recent TruStage™ consumer lending preferences study shows 85% of consumers express concern that life events could impact their ability to repay loans, and 73% of consumers report experiencing at least one financial hardship.¹

Offering payment protection within digital loan applications in a simple and effective manner to support members’ needs has proven to be another obstacle. Many credit unions are skeptical that efforts to integrate payment protection in loan workflows could be costly, time-consuming, and disrupt their greater digital transformation.

In today’s lending landscape, even small moments in the member journey can make or break protection uptake. That’s why more credit unions are rethinking how — and when — they introduce payment protection.

A scalable solution, designed to be simple to adopt

TruStage Lending continues to overcome legacy pain points like limited integration capabilities and relying on face-to-face conversations to promote offers. Our new digital purchase journey solution helps deliver a consistent multichannel experience for members that is designed to fit seamlessly into credit unions’ workflows through an application programming interface (API) without complex integrations or constant updates.

During the purchase journey, members are empowered to view eligible loan payment protection offers, compare benefits, and express interest — all within their digital loan application. Inputs are also automatically integrated into the loan origination system (LOS) and loan documents, eliminating the need to rekey information.

97% of credit unions would recommend TruStage’s digital purchase solution.²
95% of credit union partners reported a seamless implementation process.²

Turning member feedback into a meaningful purchase journey

Nearly 70% of borrowers say they’re more open to credit union payment protection products than in previous years, and 96% prefer to learn about them before finalizing a loan.¹ This further highlights the valuable opportunity to introduce integrated payment protection in a way that feels timely, relevant, and member-centric.

Offering payment protection during the digital loan application process creates a straightforward experience for members to learn more about different products and express interest in offers at a time that works for them. With a design focused on accommodation, credit unions can also serve the diverse needs of all their members with the ability to offer debt protection, credit insurance, GAP, and mechanical repair coverage (MRC) through the purchase journey.

Small shifts, big impact on protection adoption

By adopting innovative solutions and targeting key challenges, credit unions could enhance their lending operations and deliver value to members now. Today, more than 650 credit unions are integrating payment protection into over 3 million loan applications with TruStage’s solution, helping drive stronger engagement and better member outcomes.³

Educational content and timely offer placement have led to a 13% increase in payment protection elections and a 25% selection rate among online members — reinforcing the power of well-informed choices.⁴

By including payment protection in the digital loan application, credit unions could evolve their lending operations and support their members’ ever-changing needs. Visit our integrated payment protection page to explore more benefits of our purchase journey.

To learn more about TruStage and the solutions they offer, connect with the GoWest Solutions Team today.

¹TruStage. 2025 Consumer Lending Preferences Study. 2025, March.
²TruStage. Integrated Experience Credit Union Survey. 2023, January – September.
³TruStage. Internal data. 2025.
⁴TruStage. Lending Media Program May Campaign Results. 2023, May – June.

TruStage™ is the marketing name for TruStage Financial Group, Inc. its subsidiaries and affiliates. Securities distributed by CUNA Brokerage Services, Inc., member FINRA/ SIPC, a registered broker/dealer, 2000 Heritage Way, Waverly, IA, 50677. Investment and insurance products are not federally insured, may involve investment risk, may lose value and are not obligations of or guaranteed by any depository or lending institution. All guarantees are based on the claims paying ability of the underwriting company. Insurance products are issued by CMFG Life Insurance Company, MEMBERS Life Insurance Company, CUMIS Insurance Society Inc., CUMIS Specialty Insurance Company Inc., American Memorial Life Insurance Company, and Union Security Insurance Company.