COLUMBUS, Ohio — A total of five Ohio credit unions have decided to integrate an online vehicle shopping solution from Aimbridge Indirect Lending of Ohio into their list of available services.

Among the organizations that opted to make WhereMembersBuy.com accessible to members are Directions Credit Union, Cintel Credit Union, CME Credit Union, Champion Credit Union and Mercy Health Partners.

Officials explained that WhereMembersBuy.com can offer members access to thousands of new and used vehicles in Ohio with the functionality necessary to select a unit and set up credit union financing.

Some of the other attributes of the Web site are the ability to save vehicles in a "virtual garage" and schedule a test drive. All processes can be done online at home or office.

"The virtual service aggregates inventory by partnering with quality and highly reputable dealerships across the state, thereby providing the member a new and more comprehensive method to shop for a new or used vehicle," Aimbridge executives stressed.

"Dealers love this new advertising opportunity as it allows them to gain critical inventory exposure within the niche market of credit union members," they continued.

Two chief executive officers from the credit unions that recently added accessibility to WhereMembersBuy.com both described how it will be a benefit to their members.

"I think this product is going to be great for our members on two levels," contended Jim Riederer, CEO of CME Credit Union.

"One, it allows our members to view inventory of local dealers in one spot, allowing our members to get pre-qualified, right on the site," Riederer went on to say.

"Two, it gives dealers the ability to present inventory to our members through our credit union Web site," he added.

Barry Shaner, CEO of Directions Credit Union, shared some of the same sentiments as Riederer.

"Directions Credit Union is excited to offer the WhereMembersBuy program and the opportunities this product will provide Directions and our members," Shaner said.

"Our members will have a way to shop local inventory that's safe and easy right from Directions' Web site," he continued.

"This will allow us the opportunity to capture more of our members' loans by engaging with them as they start the shopping process," Shaner stressed.

"From start to finish, we can provide full-service options to our members for their entire auto shopping experience," he concluded.