Northwest Credit Union Association and Fintech Startup Mirador Financial Form New Strategic Link Partnership

SEATAC, WA and TIGARD, OR and PORTLAND, OR--(Marketwired - Apr 22, 2015) - Strategic Link, the Northwest Credit Union Association's (NWCUA) wholly owned subsidiary, announced the addition of Mirador Financial, a modern small business lending platform for financial institutions that enables smarter, faster lending decisions, to its select roster of betaSpace technology solution providers.

Mirador Financial is based in Portland, Ore., and provides a cloud-based lending platform that enables credit unions to quickly expand or implement a small business lending program without additional infrastructure or development costs; and to effectively serve small to medium-sized businesses, reduce and monitor risks, and better serve their members.

"We are firmly committed to helping credit unions take the lead in fintech, leveraging emerging technologies to drive efficiencies and ultimately better serve their members," said Denise Gabel, Chief Operating Officer of the NWCUA. "With Mirador now part of the betaSpace incubator, Northwest credit unions have access to the new small business lending technology."

The partnership enables Northwest credit unions to further support the small businesses in their communities.

"We're thrilled to partner with NWCUA and honored to be part of the betaSpace program," said Trevor Dryer, Mirador CEO and co-founder. "Small businesses are the key to economic stability and credit unions are a key source of their funding and support. Mirador understands this and supports NWCUA's commitment to helping credit unions better serve their members and communities by providing innovative, technology-based solutions to meet their small business lending needs."

NWCUA's member credit unions can learn how Mirador's powerful, easy-to-implement small business lending solution cuts processing time from weeks to minutes by contacting Craig Reed, NWCUA's director of Strategic Partnerships, at 206-340-4789, or by email at creed@nwcua.org.

Launched in Fall of 2014, NWCUA's betaSpace program is designed to connect credit unions with financial technology startups seeking partnership to bring emerging technologies to credit unions. Strategic Link provides expertise and guidance to make it easier for credit unions to obtain access to technological advancements that enhance their members' experience. For more information about betaSpace, visit http://nwcuastrategiclink.com/creditunion/betaspace/.

Gabel added that credit unions will be able to browse among more than 20 participating companies providing human resources, card services, mobile banking, operations and many other services, on a completely revamped Strategic Link website scheduled to launch in late April.

The Northwest Credit Union Association is the not-for-profit trade association serving more than 160 credit unions in Oregon and Washington and their 4.9 million members. The NWCUA is the voice of the Northwest credit union movement, providing legislative, regulatory and public advocacy in addition to education, compliance, networking support and business solutions to its members. Credit unions are structured as not-for-profit cooperatives, existing only to serve their members. Learn more at http://www.aSmarterChoice.org.

Mirador Financial offers a cloud-based platform that helps lenders make smart, fast small business loan decisions. The platform leverages big data and algorithmic decision-making to help banks, credit unions, nonprofits and other types of lenders provide small businesses with a positive borrowing experience by streamlining the loan application and approval process, while dramatically increasing the speed of transactions and minimizing losses. Mirador helps lenders find new customers, monitor loans after origination and make accurate underwriting decisions. For more information, visit www.miradorfin.com or follow on Twitter @miradorfin.