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This Changes Everything

Profitable. Predictable.
Built to Scale.

Meet the executive team behind Vantage West Credit Union’s high–performing loan portfolio.

michelle-geoppner

“Upstart’s solution is so simple, frictionless and easy. Members constantly tell us how fast and smooth the experience is.”

Michelle Goeppner

SVP, Consumer Lending & Deposits, Vantage West

Michelle Changes Membership Growth

What's important to Michelle as SVP of Lending

  • Building real member relationships, not just loan volume
  • Driving growth while staying true to Vantage West’s mission
  • Serving diverse member segments

Why Upstart

Upstart gave Michelle’s team a scalable way to expand into new markets, grow super-prime, prime, and underserved borrowers, and strengthen member relationships with every loan.

Scott Changes Portfolio Performance

What's important to Scott as CFO

  • Strong credit performance
  • Boosting net interest margin
  • Optimizing capital deployment
  • Maintaining optionality in a volatile lending environment

Why Upstart

Upstart is now one of Vantage West’s most profitable portfolios. It offers high returns, flexibility to scale up or down and access to a high-performing personal loan market — all without added operational overhead.

scott-odom

“If we didn’t have Upstart, our overall loan yields would be 40 basis points lower.”

Scott Odom

CFO, Vantage West

sandra-gagehorn

“We’ve added over 17,000 new members — in the exact segments we care about most.”

Sandra Sagehorn-Elliott

President and CEO, Vantage West

Sandra Changes Scalability

What's important to Sandra as CEO

  • Expanding access to credit in underserved communities
  • Entering new markets with the right risk balance
  • Supporting Vantage West’s CDFI mission

Why Upstart

Upstart helped Sandra’s team reach low- and moderate-income borrowers and serve more affluent members — enabling growth across all segments while maintaining portfolio control and operational efficiency.

How Vantage West's
High-PerformingUpstart
Portfolio Works.

  • 1

    Set your parameters

    Set more than 15 criteria including minimum credit score, maximum debt-to-income ratio, loan sizes, geography and more.

  • 2

    Reach borrowers

    Upstart’s robust marketing engine uses advanced online and offline strategies to drive demand to Upstart.com, presenting your loan offer to your existing customers and new borrowers who fit your risk profile.

  • 3

    Present your rate offer in minutes

    Your loan offer is jointly branded with Upstart.

    Mobile-friendly application allows users to finish their application in one sitting.

    Upstart’s risk-based AI model individually prices and matches applicants within your credit criteria resulting in higher approvals and lower losses.

  • 4

    Approve, verify, and fund

    91% of loans fully automated.*

    Upstart’s expert staff manage all exception processes for higher-risk applications.

    Same day all-digital signature process.

    Next-business day loan funding.

  • 5

    Cross-sell your other products

    Promote your other products at no cost by presenting digital offers to your new customer after the loan is secured.

  • 6

    Optimize loan portfolio

    Access insightful metrics and make informed portfolio decisions with the Upstart Performance Console.

    Adjust your loan volume and lending parameters as your goals or strategy change.

    Upstart’s team of former credit union and bank executives can help manage your program.

This is More Than a Fintech Partnership.

This Changes Everything.

Vantage West didn’t just launch a new product. They redefined what lending could mean for a credit union’s growth.

Whether you’re trying to increase returns, grow a predictable portfolio or reach new prime members… Upstart helps you get there.

Book a meeting now to explore how we can help you reach your 2026 growth goals.

Frequently Asked Questions

What loan products does Upstart offer?
 
Upstart offers multiple ways to grow your portfolio: Personal loans (supports super-prime, prime & near-prime, and census tract lending), a fully-digital HELOC and turnkey Auto Refinance.
What controls do I have over my program?
 
Upstart lets you set your own credit box, target returns, desired volume, and geographic or SEG focus based on your field of membership (FOM). Then, you can monitor loan performance in near real-time with Upstart’s Performance Console and receive expert guidance to achieve your goals from your Upstart strategic portfolio advisor.
How do you balance prime growth with yield requirements?
 
Many partners deploy blended loan strategies that include low-risk super prime loans (T-Prime) with higher-yielding prime/near-prime loans (Premium) to arrive at the desired risk and return levels. Your strategic portfolio advisor will partner with you to construct a tailored portfolio that meets your specific goals.
Who services the loans and what’s the member experience?
 
Servicing is typically handled by Upstart. We’ve been very successful at servicing our partners’ portfolios for over a decade. Our co-branded servicing supports over $12B in active loans as we balance excellent borrower engagement (94% CSAT) with the technology and processes to minimize delinquencies.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do we capture the full value of a new member, beyond just a loan?
 
Upstart’s Member Cross-sell (UMC) turns new borrowers into long-term members with a co-developed playbook and technology that enables seamless digital deposit opening/switching, direct-deposit setup, and timely offers for additional products — positioning your CU as the primary financial institution. Our partners have achieved double-digit cross-sell rates to Upstart-sourced members.
Can Upstart help us meet CDFI/LID objectives?
 
Yes, our personal loans product allows you to target specific census tracts to help maintain your CDFI/LID certification. Upstart’s powerful AI models enable you to approve more creditworthy LMI borrowers.
What does onboarding/integration look like?
 
Lending partners have multiple integration options, including API-based connectors, to quickly board members and loans to your core system and enable fast funding. Our technical experts will work with you to construct the best solution to meet your goals and timeline.
Can we deploy capital via loan purchases/participations?
 
Yes. Credit unions can acquire high-yielding seasoned pools or participate in either spot or ongoing purchases.

* In Q2 2025. Percentage of Loans Fully Automated, which is defined as the total number of loans in a given period originated end-to-end (from initial rate request to final funding for personal loans and small dollar loans, and from initial rate request to signing of the loan agreement for auto loans) with no human involvement required by the Company divided by the Transaction Volume, Number of Loans in the same period.