The “Facebook Initiative” has helped increase lending at Irish credit unions and now 15% to 20% of loan inquiries come through the social networking site; the program initially started out as a pilot project and has moved into a key source of new leads; half of consumers that used this program never borrowed from a credit union before; the process involves a 30 second inquiry online, then lending officers call the borrowers to ensure they understand what they are borrowing; this is part of a broader move by the Credit Union Development Association (CUDA) in Ireland to spur innovation in finance. Source
