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by Tracy Weatherly, SVP of Real Estate Lending, Alliance Credit Union
Many credit unions struggle to build a reputation for mortgage lending in their communities—even among their members. This lack of awareness is one of the biggest challenges faced by midsize credit unions: How can you become borrowers’ first stop when they’re shopping for a home loan? I came to Alliance Credit Union 10 years ago to build our mortgage department from scratch. Since then, we’ve nearly doubled our business year over year for the past five years. In 2025, we finished first in our market, providing more than 1,400 borrowers with home loans totaling over $340 million. A key factor in this success has been our participation in the Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas’s Mortgage Partnership Finance® (MPF®) Program. For nearly five years, we’ve been delivering loans into the secondary market using the MPF Traditional products, and they’ve given us the flexibility to establish Alliance as a go-to mortgage lender in our communities.
It’s All about Affordability
Alliance serves more than 75,000 members across Texas, including Lubbock, Amarillo, Big Spring, San Angelo, Fort Worth and San Antonio. In our market—like many others across the country—affordability is a critical issue, especially for young families. One key feature of the MPF Traditional products is that they don’t charge loan-level price adjustments (LLPAs). This, in addition to MPF’s competitive rates and credit enhancement income for sharing in the credit risk of our loans, helps us provide the lowest rates in our communities. MPF Traditional gives us the flexibility to offer first-time homebuyers a phenomenal rate and an affordable payment, even if they have lower FICO scores or limited credit histories.
From Mortgage to Lifelong Membership
Alliance currently provides more loans to new members than existing members, which means the success of our mortgage business is driving membership growth, too. The MPF Traditional products give lenders the choice to retain or release servicing, and we’ve found that their servicing partners care for our members just like we would. Providing this excellent post-closing experience helps us turn homebuyers into lifetime members.
Making the Leap
As a not-for-profit lender, Alliance is passionate about offering our members the lowest possible rates and fees. The MPF Program aligns with our philosophy and helps us achieve those goals. There was a brief learning curve at the beginning—as there is with any new secondary market process, but the guidance we received made it easy to get up and running. If you’re looking to grow your mortgage business, I encourage you not to wait. Your Federal Home Loan Bank is there to walk you through every step. Once you’ve learned how it works, you’ll find that the MPF Program is an essential secondary market delivery option, and you’re going to love how it raises the profile, flexibility, and profitability of your mortgage business.