BATON ROUGE, La. — In the all-important need to open up credit availability and get the economy moving again, Wolters Kluwer Financial Services announced it has gained a new financial institution to use its AppOne platform.

The most recent lending facility to join AppOne is Meritrust Credit Union, one of the largest credit unions in Kansas, according to the company.

"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, chief executive officer of indirect lending at Wolters Kluwer Financial Services.

"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," he added.

As a part of the partnership, Meritrust gains the ability to provide risk-assessed loans for independent auto dealers through AppOne's proprietary dealer underwriting and scoring system.

Additionally, Wolters Kluwer's integrated Bankers System will help the credit union with motor vehicle retail installment contracts for the financial documentation of auto loans, aiding in proper compliance with industry regulations.

"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."

AutoCount research showed that Meritrust produced more auto loans than any other credit union in Kansas from May 2008 to June 2009. This drives home another reason why the alliance makes sense — Wolters Kluwer dealerships gain another strong lender, and the use of its electronic forms will benefit Meritrust with its mortgage, individual retirement accounts and deposit transactions compliance, all of which are a part of the new relationship.