Credit unions are gaining members, seeing loan and savings
balances grow and hiring more staff. That's according to our latest Credit Union TrendsReport for May 2017.
Highlights from the new report include:
- During March, credit unions picked-up 592,000 in new memberships, loan and savings balances grew at a 13.4 percent and 7.8 percent seasonally-adjusted annualized pace, respectively. Firms hired 79,000 workers, nominal consumer spending was unchanged, and long-term interest rates increased 6 basis points. Real GDP growth was 0.7 percent in the first quarter due to a slowdown in inventory accumulation and weak consumer spending.
- At the end of March, CUNA’s monthly estimates reported 5,953 credit unions in operation, 24 fewer than one month earlier. Year-over-year, the number of credit unions declined by 242, less than the 252 lost in the 12 months ending in March 2016.
- Total credit union assets rose 1.7 percent in March, faster than the 1.0 percent gain reported in March of 2016. Assets rose 8.7 percent during the past year due to an 8.6 percent increase in deposits, 19.3 percent increase in borrowings, and 5.9 percent increase in capital.
- The nation’s credit unions increased their loan portfolios by 0.9 percent in March, slower than the 1.1 percent pace reported in March 2016. Loan balances are up 11.3 percent during the last 12 months. With loan balances growing faster than savings, credit union liquidity is tightening as the credit union average loan-to-savings ratio reached 78.2 percent, up from 76.3 percent in March 2016.
- Credit union memberships rose 0.54 percent in March, up from the 0.45 percent gain reported in March 2016. Memberships are up 4.5 percent during the past year due to robust demand for credit, solid job growth and credit unions having comparatively lower fees and loan interest rates. · Credit union loan delinquency rates fell to 0.74 percent in March, below the 0.75 percent natural long-run rate, from 0.78 percent in February due to tax refunds and bonuses allowing some members to catch-up on late loan payments.
To review the full,
complimentary trends report, click here.
