Customer segmentation perceptions of farm credit associations

In 2006, the Farm Credit System released a report about the general economic and financial needs to rural America entitled HORIZONS. The objective of this study is to build on the HORIZONS project by exploring the opinions of seven Oklahoma Farm Credit Associations’ senior officials and load officers on the financial characteristics of different borrower types, their associations’ competitive advantage in attracting and retaining these borrowers, and the potential load volume growth for each borrower type. The results of this research show that senior officials are more positive than are loan officers about the financial characteristics of nontraditional borrowers. However, both groups agree that these borrowers provide the best opportunity for load volume growth.