(Image source: CUFG homepage.)
When CU Financial Group (CUFG, League City, Texas) sought to bring insurance more fully into the digital age, it turned to Sure (Dallas), a provider of digital quoting and binding infrastructure. With Sure’s support, CUFG launched SimpleQuote, an embedded auto insurance platform that enables members to obtain accurate quotes and bind coverage in under five minutes—without talking to an agent. The initiative helped CUFG eliminate common pain points such as inaccurate quoting tools, agent bottlenecks, and time-consuming underwriting, ultimately expanding reach and reducing distribution costs.
CUFG was created by its parent organization, Associated Credit Union of Texas, in 2004. The credit union realized it needed to control more of the insurance process to prevent the refinancing of loans away from its portfolio. CUFG gradually evolved into a fully independent agency and today manages over $30 million in premium across 16 credit union partners in the state. The group’s mission has always centered on protecting members’ financial interests—but the COVID-19 pandemic exposed a growing problem. As members adopted digital banking tools, they began to expect similar digital experiences in other financial areas, including insurance.
Christian Marrder, VP, Sales and Operations, CUFG.
The insurance side, however, had fallen behind. CUFG struggled with quoting tools that were inaccurate, hard to use, and relied heavily on human agents. “Members would get excited about a quote online,” says Christian Marrder, VP, Sales and Operations, CUFG, “but then talk to an agent and get a totally different rate. It felt like a bait-and-switch—even when it wasn’t.”
To solve that problem, CUFG set out to find a vendor that could help embed a more accurate, member-friendly quoting experience into the credit union lending process. Marrder says the group considered multiple options, including working with vendors to develop API integrations, but nothing quite met the mark—until an executive encountered Sure at a fintech event in Las Vegas in June 2023. A meeting was scheduled shortly after. “It sounded too good to be true at first,” Marrder says. “But they had already built half the bridge.”
Sure, which had already established infrastructure for digital auto quoting in partnership with a digital platform of a major insurance carrier, offered exactly what CUFG needed: pre-filled application data, intuitive coverage comparisons, and seamless binding capability. “We just had to supply the front end,” Marrder recalls. “They brought the carrier integration, the data extraction tools, and the backend underwriting logic.”
CUFG’s internal brand for the new solution became SimpleQuote, which it owns. The first meeting with Sure took place in June 2023, with a formal proposal submitted by November. A partnership plan was completed in December, and the contract was signed in January 2024. Implementation began in April. CUFG executives characterize the implementation as unusually smooth, thanks to Sure’s clarity on technical requirements and pre-built infrastructure.
The team soft-launched SimpleQuote in September 2024 with a midsize credit union. As a credit union service organization (CUSO), CUFG had the ability to test the platform internally before rolling it out to its broader partner network. The digital quoting tool was well received by members who preferred self-service, especially those less inclined to visit physical branches. “We’ve always had members who want to talk to an agent,” Marrder says. “But this helped us reach a different demographic—members who want to shop for coverage on their own time, maybe at 9 p.m. from home.”
Eric Goins, Marketing Manager, CUFG.
By leveraging Sure’s API-driven technology and the previously developed digital platform’s capabilities, CUFG enabled members to get accurate, bindable quotes in as little as three minutes. “It’s literally faster than ordering a cup of coffee,” remarks Eric Goins, Marketing Manager, CUFG. “And the quotes come pre-filled with data from their current policy. They can adjust coverages through sliders and buy immediately.”
CUFG reports that the digital solution not only reduces friction for members but also dramatically lowers the cost of distribution. “Sitting across the table from a member takes time and staffing,” Marrder notes. He affirms that the return on investment isn’t just about revenue—it’s about maintaining competitiveness in a shifting landscape.
Other benefits include:
- Improved accuracy: Members confirm pre-filled data rather than entering it themselves.
- Faster conversions: From start to bind in under five minutes, compared to days with traditional quoting.
- Broader reach: CUFG is no longer limited to members who walk into a branch.
- Carrier quality: By embedding technology already developed for a large carrier, CUFG avoided compromising on coverage standards.
CUFG has already begun preparing for broader rollout. Two of Texas’s largest credit unions—a major teachers’ credit union and another in the Fort Worth area—are poised to implement SimpleQuote. While the platform currently offers auto insurance only, CUFG expects to expand into home, renters and even life products in the near future.
The experience with Sure provides confidence for next steps. “With other partners, we’d get halfway in and realize the scope was much bigger than we thought,” Marrder says. “With Sure, they told us exactly what to expect.”
As CUFG looks ahead, Marrder emphasizes that the move to digital is not just strategic—it’s existential. “If we’re not growing while the membership grows, we’re shrinking,” he says. “This is about market share and member value. We don’t charge fees. We’re not there for a quick buck. We’re there to help people—just like credit unions always have.”