HOUSTON -

Auto Financial Group — an online provider of innovative financing products including CarMark Auto Finance for credit unions and banks — highlighted its summer growth figures this week, revealing increasing momentum in new customer signings with AFG's Balloon Lending program.

Since May, Auto Financial Group has signed six new credit unions to its Balloon Lending program, resulting in a reach increase of 3,351,865 new consumers. These new organizations include:

—Community Star Credit Union
—Cooperative Federal Syracuse's Community Development Credit Union
—Credit Union of Colorado
—Isabella Community Credit Union
—Palisades Federal Credit Union
—Rutgers FCU

AFG mentioned this group of credit unions represents combined assets of more than $1.75 billion across Colorado, Michigan, New Jersey, New York and Ohio.

“We welcome these financial institutions to the growing AFG family,” AFG chief executive officer Richard Epley said. “Residual based financing is at an all-time high in the U.S. and we’re excited that these institutions have chosen AFG’s Balloon Lending program to offer to their members."

Auto Financial Group also noted that it expects continued growth through the remainder of the year as the company seeks to provide its unique financing products and solutions to financial institutions across the U.S.

The balloon lending program, such as CarMark Auto Finance, can provide institutions with a residual based balloon loan program that is fully insured.

Through AFG's software, financial institutions are able to secure higher-yielding loans with lower monthly payments for their consumers, mitigate residual value risk, and position themselves to take advantage of the record market increases in residual value based financing.