What happens when a mid-sized credit union outgrows its comfort zone? Andrew Wilson of Navigator Credit Union joins host Mark Ritter to unpack the strategy behind explosive net income growth, a booming mortgage lending portfolio, and a scrappy new commercial lending division built almost from scratch. Wilson gets candid about surviving NCUA Exams, building trust with regulators, and why CUSO partnerships have become a secret weapon for smaller credit unions competing against the biggest banks in the country. Along the way, Auburn football and Mississippi Gulf Coast living make for a genuinely fun listen.

What You Will Learn in This Episode:

✅ How Navigator Credit Union built a thriving commercial lending program through smart CUSO partnerships

✅ Why strong credit union lending yields and low cost of funds drive outsized net income

✅ Practical tips for surviving NCUA exams and building lasting relationships with regulators

✅ How digital banking and mortgage lending growth expanded member access along the Mississippi Gulf Coast

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TIMESTAMPS:

(00:00) Andrew Wilson of Navigator Credit Union talks about Birmingham, growth along the Mississippi Gulf Coast and Auburn football

(13:29) A discussion on CUSO partnerships and collaboration among credit unions in commercial lending

(16:45) Wilson explains how Navigator balances digital banking with in-branch member experience

(20:07) The strategy behind Navigator's high net income and impressive credit union lending yields

(22:32) Wilson shares his top tips for navigating NCUA exams and building examiner relationships

(28:43) Wilson details loan portfolio diversification and strong mortgage lending growth and shares his outlook for the future

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

💎 A disciplined commercial lending strategy through CUSO partnerships can turn a small credit union into a serious profit engine

💎 Welcoming NCUA exams as a partnership, not a battle, builds trust and smoother reviews over time

💎 Investing in both digital banking and face-to-face service keeps member experience strong across markets

ABOUT THE GUEST:

Andrew Wilson - LinkedIn

Navigator Credit Union - Website

RESOURCES MENTIONED:

Mark Ritter - Website

Mark Ritter - LinkedIn

SEO KEYWORDS:

Credit Union Conversations, Mark Ritter, MBFS, Credit Unions, CUSO, Credit Union Lending, Navigator Credit Union, Business Lending, Commercial Lending, CUSO Partnerships, Federal Credit Union, NCUA Exams, Consumer Lending, Mortgage Lending, Digital Banking, Deposit Growth, Loan Portfolio, Credit Risk, Member Experience

[00:00:29] So check us out at mbfs.org or connect with us on LinkedIn, connect with myself, and we'd love to talk to see what you're up to and see if it makes sense. Today is one of my favorite types of conversations because I love to dig into what's going on at credit unions these days. And joining us is Andrew Wilson of Navigator Credit Union.

[00:00:54] Andrew Wilson: I'm doing fantastic, Mark, and thank you so much for the opportunity to come on the podcast this [00:01:00] morning. We love working with NBFS and what y'all are doing up in Pennsylvania and what you've done for Navigator Credit Union specifically. So thank you so much for the opportunity.

[00:01:21] Andrew Wilson: I'm not gonna sugarcoat it. It's pretty brutal, the humidity. I mean, just walking from my, uh, truck to the credit union side door is hard to do without breaking into a full body sweat.

[00:01:45] Mark Ritter: This is...

[00:01:57] Andrew Wilson: Yeah, you know, in, in the Mississippi and Alabama [00:02:00] Gulf Coastlines do offer some unique things to do. You know, obviously we have the golf and we have casinos down here and, and entertainment, but I actually went this weekend on a, uh, trip out to the Barrier Islands.

[00:02:29] Mark Ritter: I am jealous because I love to fish, so looking forward to it. So I always like to do these podcasts more or as much about people as far as what's going on in the industry. So tell people a little bit about your background, your career journey.

[00:02:50] My dad did anesthesia, and so we moved around a lot as a kid, and I thought that that experience growing up eventually led to the ability to collaborate quite [00:03:00] well with people. Uh, that turned out to be my credit union life more or less down the road. But I'm a Birmingham, Alabama native. When my dad retired, we moved there.

[00:03:34] And it's been great. I'm closing in on my 20th year in the credit union industry, and most of that has been in a combination of lending and operations, but it's been an awesome journey and, you know, I, I'm, I'm a person that, uh, embraces the people helping people aspect of the credit union industry, and I'm very passionate about that.

[00:03:58] Mark Ritter: So as part of my [00:04:00] job, you know, I have different times of the year where I really hit the road a lot, and Birmingham is by far and away to me, the most underrated food city in America. The restaurants and your diversity and the quality is fabulous relative to the size of the city.

[00:04:40] But the city has so much to offer. I mean, the topography of the city, it's on the very- Mm-hmm ... southernmost sort of aspect of the Appalachian Mountains, so you have a lot of rolling hills, a lot of scenic areas, neighborhoods. You know, y- like you already mentioned, the, uh, the, the food scene. If you're a craft beer person like I am, there's a lot of [00:05:00] pop-up breweries that, that are doing a lot of great things.

[00:05:11] Mark Ritter: uh- Massive, massive growth of that school.

[00:05:24] Mark Ritter: So tell people a little bit about Navigator Credit Union, where you're up to today. Profile the credit union, markets you serve, a little bit about what makes you guys special.

[00:05:53] And so they decided to do something about it and form their own credit union, uh, group. And 70 years [00:06:00] later, uh, y- we eventually rebranded from Ingalls Credit Union to Navigator Credit Union. And just within the last two years, Navigator has transitioned over to becoming a federal credit union, so we now hold that designation.

[00:06:38] We, at the present time, haven't gone too far north from the coastline just because of the groups that we have serviced have traditionally been the shipbuilders. But we do have plans this calendar year to open a Pensacola, Florida branch. So we are expanding our operations a little further east, but primarily we, we reside on the coastline.

[00:07:30] Uh, and it turns out a couple days later, we found, we, we unraveled it. But that was one of the craziest days that I had to deal with. I'm out by myself in Mississippi, gonna drive a couple hundred miles. I thought my car was stolen, but a tow truck driver went out and towed the wrong car. So...

[00:08:09] And so, you know, to structure a dinner, uh, for us to get together after that meeting over in downtown Ocean Springs, which is such a great area of arguably the best spot in Mississippi. So many great restaurants. And then to have you call me and say, "Hey, I'm, I'm running a little late. My, my car has been stolen."

[00:08:45] So we did.

[00:09:07] Andrew Wilson: My history with Auburn football specifically started in the late 1990s as a student at the university, and it really has been a roller coaster ride because at that time, Auburn was, you know, uh, making repeat appearances to the SEC championship game.

[00:09:44] And I believe we're 4 and 26 against ranked teams, and I think we may be up to four coaches that we're still paying now who don't even coach the team. So, you know, it, it's hard to be a, a overt optimist about it, but I, I think we've set the bar so [00:10:00] low that it's, it, we can step over it at this point comfortably.

[00:10:23] But I think we get off the canvas and I wouldn't say I expect, but I'm hopeful for seven or eight wins, which would be, you know, sort of measurable improvement. And, uh, I don't know if you realize this or not, but from Auburn's perspective, you know, we have the World Cup that's ongoing. We're gonna have the- Yes

[00:10:59] I [00:11:00] wasn't unfortunately able to go. It was really funny to watch the European and the South American folks that had attended the match watch the eagle fly around the stadium, and just the pageantry, and there were many, uh, videos posted on Instagram about their experiences and the, and what a great time, and how shocked they were of the Southern culture.

[00:11:23] Mark Ritter: I think the good thing is in this new world order of college football, you can turn it around pretty quick. And so you get the right coach, you get a couple good players, you hit on a couple transfers, and they can be right back into that consistent top 15, top 20 with popping up every few years.

[00:12:05] It was like the second or third game of the season. We wound up losing the ball game at home. I think we had several turnovers in the game that obviously impacted us negatively. But the quarterback for California in that game was at that time a not as nationally known guy by the name of Fernando Mendoza, who after that season transferred to Indiana, and as we saw last year, we know what happened with Indiana and him at the helm at the quarterback position.

[00:12:41] Mark Ritter: If you would've told me Bo Nix would have, uh, developed into the quarterback he was after struggling at Auburn, I would've laughed at you, so.

[00:13:10] He's a Hoover native, and Hoover High School is where my son would've gone had we stayed in Birmingham prior to me relocating down to the coastline a few years ago.

[00:13:29] So I look at a credit union like Navigator as too big to be small, too small to be big. Tell me a little bit about collaborations, partnerships, you know, working with other people, fintechs, CUSOs like us. You know, where does that fit into kind of your mindset and decision-making and the strategy that goes with that?

[00:14:13] But I have found in discussions with smaller credit unions in the state of Mississippi, uh, there, there's a great need to just share best practices, um, what works, what doesn't work, uh, identification of risks, new threats to the local credit unions. And through chamber events, um, other league, uh, events, there really is an opportunity for credit unions to just, you know, step out of their comfort zones, get to know one, one another, build relationships, and a-again, embrace that people helping people mantra which not only applies to, you know, the members in your credit union or prospective members for that matter, but it also, to me, goes from credit union to credit union.

[00:15:21] And so I think working with each other instead of against each other is something that credit unions typically do quite well. I'm all for that. And as far as CUSO partnerships, I can say that, uh, you know, working with NBFS, whether it's the marketplace or the services that NBFS provides, it really has been transformational for Navigator to play around in a space where we can fund larger business and commercial loans that we would not have typically done or have been possible for credit unions not only of our size, but smaller credit unions.

[00:16:06] Mark Ritter: Yeah, I always think of us as a club where we could just do more collectively than ourselves, so that's great to hear.

[00:16:42] Like, what's the balance there, and how do you look at that?

[00:17:01] This also included deploying... Within the last year, we deployed what we call Joy. Uh, Joy is our, uh, Navigator's AI digital assistant when it comes to calling into our phone system, that is, and the adoption rate after kinks that had to be ironed out has been great. It's reduced call center wait times. I would also say from a specifically a lending standpoint, that back in 2024, we made the decision to move to a fully centralized consumer lending environment, which was eventually capable of handling an end-to-end experience that did not involve any sort of in-branch visit.

[00:17:58] And so we're very proud of [00:18:00] that experience for b- our borrowers, our members going through that experience that we have built. And we recently opened a new branch in D'Iberville, Mississippi, which is just north of Biloxi. And in doing so, we decided we were gonna use that as a new model, create a different banking experience where we leaned on the new ITMs as opposed to the traditional teller, walk-up teller counter model.

[00:18:51] Mark Ritter: That's a good balance. My credit union CEO always just said, "You know, people might not use that branch, but they want to know it's [00:19:00] there if you need it."

[00:19:21] We do try to connect them to the lending... We call it the lending ser- uh, service center team. And I think once they get over the, the in-branch, you know, necessity, uh, component of it, then what we have seen is the next time around when we engage that same member, they are much, much more comfortable with the idea of not coming to the branch and really just communicating with the team.

[00:19:58] We've also invested in [00:20:00] instant decisioning models, and we're in the process right now of improving those models to just deliver the results as fast as possible.

[00:20:18] I mean, it's in that upper strategy. Kinda tell me a little bit about that. You know, lift-- under- look under the covers. Like, what, what's really been the driver of that in kind of putting all of that together?

[00:20:51] You know, so for us to be able to be as profitable and see the yields that we see speaks volumes of, you know, just what we're doing is working. You know, the, the credit [00:21:00] union's cost of funds, you know, we-we're experiencing a very low cost of funds right now. We're actually below forty basis points. Our focus for 2026, strategic focus, was really to grow the deposit side of the house is really, uh...

[00:21:34] So we try to incentivize them by offering loyalty or relationship type offerings to just build both enriched experience for the member overall. But our yields, you know, despite some stagnancy in areas of lending this year, as far as growth is concerned, our loan yields are very, very strong, and so we feel like the pricing strategy that we have in place really enables us to balance, you know, the credit [00:22:00] risks that are out there in our, in our market, but still, you know, while saying yes, also still get the yield that puts us, separates us from some of our peers down this way.

[00:22:09] Mark Ritter: So you are a credit union veteran. You are in that veteran category, and when I see large, the kind of the mega credit unions, when a regulator comes in, oftentimes they're dealing with attorneys, departments that just deal with the regulators and auditors. But at a mid-sized credit union like yourself, you're kind of a jack of all trades.

[00:22:42] Andrew Wilson: I'm very passionate about this particular subject matter. I've been through, you know, a dozen, maybe fifteen NCUA exams. Uh, we've had, uh, state auditors, uh, both at, uh, Alabama Power Credit Union and here at Navigator that I've gone through reviews with [00:23:00] and third-party audits and reviews as well, so I'm very experienced when coming to this, uh, type of subject.

[00:23:31] It does not have to start as a, you know, boxing match between you and the regulators. Uh, you know, it-- I've always been a believer in, in really when the, any engagement starts Uh, the, one of the first things that I, I sort of project directly to the auditors and examiners is, you know, I try to create a welcoming environment and embrace the spirit of the examination.

[00:24:18] It's really about just improving what you're doing as a credit union and protecting the credit union and ultimately the members and stuff. And so I think starting by creating that welcoming environment, uh, and that you, and that, that you as a credit union understand what they're there to do is a good start.

[00:25:10] You know, so that, that's, that's one way is just to be able to demonstrate the ability to internally identify risks and threats from a proactive standpoint. And again, from proactions, you know, engage in internal audits and external third-party audits. Our commercial lending program, which is still somewhat in the infancy stages, we've done back to back third-party commercial reviews with, uh, Doren Mayhew, a very reputable third-party audit company, and we've been satisfied with the results of those reviews and really embraced the suggestions and recommendations.

[00:26:00] Mark Ritter: not a sugge- it's not a s- list of suggestions.

[00:26:24] But the quicker you can do those things and demonstrate that you're well, a well-oiled machine, um, and organized, uh, again, it reinforces the, the, uh, the examiner perspective that, yeah, Navigator knows what they're doing. They, they have everything. They found everything quickly. Uh, they have a well-oiled machine, and they're efficient at what they're doing Um, and then the last thing I would suggest is when the exam ends, obviously there's, you know, findings, recommendations, observations, all those things, and, uh, you know, certainly those need to be addressed.

[00:27:13] Oftentimes when the engagement ends, they'll give you their contact information, and they'll offer, you know, uh, to be a sounding board. Don't, don't be afraid to do that. We have done that, or I have done that multiple times, and it just keeps the conversations around compliance-related items very fluid. And I have found that, you know, uh, the next time they come back, you just kind of pick up where you left off and, you know, they have a familiarity of what, you know, Navigator is trying to do, what your credit union is trying to do.

[00:27:51] Mark Ritter: I, I guess for the next few years, everybody in Mississippi can say, "Well, we're better than Jackson Area Federal Credit Union."

[00:28:13] And they typically are doing a, an annual, annual meeting, which happens over at the Beau Rivage, probably the premier casino on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, and that's a big event. So yeah, definitely a hot topic of conversation down in Mississippi. Unfortunate one as well. Yes.

[00:28:32] How have you evolved or, and the role evolved, uh, a- and, and you're seeing yourself, uh, progress or the role change as, as a professional?

[00:28:53] There, you know, kind of foundational goals that were in place when I arrived here. When I got here, there was a need for kind [00:29:00] of a reset of risk tolerances from an underwriting and compliance standpoint just around lending. It took a couple years for me to accomplish that and working with the teams, whether it's consumer lending and mortgage lending and collections as well at that time.

[00:29:37] Uh, and when... I usually use the, the phrase calculated versus undue risk-taking. And I would say to an underwriter joining Navigators Team with no experience, entry-level person, you know, how do we differentiate risks? How do we calculate risks? And installing sentiment that really when we lend out the money, it's our responsibility to be a good [00:30:00] steward of the members' money, the credit union's resources, and how do we go about doing that?

[00:30:31] I'm a people person. It's the best part of my job and, you know, I get to work with so many amazing people, and not only leader- leadership team, but all throughout every level of the organization, every department. So another foundational goal, which we are in the process of seeing some real results, is, you know, I was tasked with creating diversity inside of the loan portfolio.

[00:31:17] These are, these are first mortgage, uh, type products that we've built our portfolio around. We've also been able to partner with some secondary market investors that we can now offer USDA, FHA, VA-type loan products, whereas when I first arrived here, we could not offer those things, so we were losing volume there.

[00:32:02] We have seen not only, uh, great results from the loans that we've made in-house, which, as you know, we outsource our underwriting and some other components of our processing to NBFS, but we also are a, a active participant in the CU marketplace that N- NBFS provides. And I mean, I'll just say this, we've gone from essentially dollars zero to probably around twenty-three to twenty-four million if you added everything up, and, uh, very little to no delinquency.

[00:32:39] Mark Ritter: Thank you. That's great to hear. Anything new on the horizon or what's your outlook in the lending world for the next year or so?

[00:33:01] You know, I would say, you know, if you're a small or mid-sized credit union that hasn't historically gotten involved in commercial because you don't feel like you have the internal resources or knowledge to do that, give NBFS a shot at what they, what they do, and I think don't let the, the fear and inexperience factor hold it- hold you back from participating in a very lucrative, uh, way of lending money to your members and filling a, a need that your local business and commercial folks have.

[00:33:48] And so, uh, yeah, I'm very optimistic about the marketplace itself and, and commercial lending as a whole. Um, you know, Navigator is still in, like I said, in the infancy stages, but, uh, [00:34:00] we're excited about what the future holds, and our expansion over to Pensacola is the latest example of that. We're, we're trying to grow.

[00:34:13] Mark Ritter: Andrew, thank you so much for joining me today and sharing your thoughts with the credit union community. Where could people, uh, connect with you, uh, online or Navigator Credit Union?

[00:34:33] Uh, we typically respond to requests within 24 hours no matter how it's, uh, what subject is, uh, involved. Our contact phone number is 228-475-7300. As far as me specifically, I'm always looking to connect with folks in the credit union industry or related fields, so you can find me on LinkedIn. My work email is awilson@na- uh, navigatorcu.org.

[00:35:17] And Mark, again, thank you so much for bringing me on the podcast this morning, and everything NBFS and you are doing up there. It's been great working with you, and look forward to, uh, doing that, doing so, uh, you know, on a continued basis.

[00:35:34] Connect with him online or, uh, next year when he's on Bourbon Street at the business lending conference. So thank you so much, and thank you for listening, and I hope you subscribe. We drop episodes on Tuesdays, and they can come right up in your feed, and hear what's going on with the credit union. And please share your, the word about the show.

[00:36:01] soon.