ALEXANDRIA, Va. –NCUA released figures yesterday showing that at the end of Q2 2015, total membership in U.S. credit unions was more than 101 million.
But as CUToday.info has reported, other recent analyses suggest the number is a bit larger—indeed, CUToday.info cited one source nearly nine months ago that claimed the number of CU members was at 101 million.
CUNA Mutual recently noted in its most recent Trends Report, for instance, that credit union memberships grew a strong 440,000 in June. That growth, said CUNA Mutual, brought credit union memberships to 103 million, which is 32.5% of the total U.S. population, CUNA Mutual said.
Through June, the CUNA Mutual Trends Report data showed credit unions added two-million new members in the first half of 2015, faster than the 1.7 million members added in 2014. Year-over-year memberships have increased at a 3.3% pace, the fastest in more than 20 years, CUNA Mutual said. It projected CU membership will grow 3% this year and next.
Indeed, CUToday.info reported in September of 20014 that CU membership had crested 101.5 million members.
Meanwhile, in conjunction with the release of NCUA’s data, NCUA Chairman Debbie Matz issued a statement saying, “Across America, there’s a growing recognition that credit unions offer solid value to their members. More people see credit unions as an affordable financial services alternative. Credit unions continue to increase lending while taking steps to shed certain investments that would pose risk when interest rates inevitably begin to rise. All these trends are signs of a robust system.”
Other data released by NCUA, based on Call Reports for federally insured CUs as of June 30, 2015:
- The number of federally insured credit unions fell to 6,159 at the end of the second quarter, 270 fewer than at the end of the second quarter of 2014, a decline of 4.2%. The decline is consistent with longstanding trends for financial institutions, the agency said.
- Total loans at federally insured credit unions reached $745.2 billion in the second quarter of 2015, an increase of 3.2% from the previous quarter and 10.6% from a year earlier. Over the year ending in the second quarter of 2015, loans grew across all asset sizes and in every major category.
- New auto loans grew to $92.8 billion, up 3.9% from the previous quarter and up 19.5% from the second quarter of 2014.
- Used auto loans increased to $152.9 billion, up 3.8% from the previous quarter and up 13% from the second quarter of 2014.
- Total first mortgage loans outstanding reached $306.2 billion, up 3.1% from the previous quarter and up 9.6% from the second quarter of 2014. Fixed-rate first mortgage loans made up 59.3% of first mortgage loans outstanding at the end of the second quarter.
- Second mortgage loans were $72.2 billion, up 0.9% from the previous quarter and up 2.4% from the second quarter of 2014.
- Net member business loan balances grew to $54.4 billion, up 2.9% from the previous quarter and up 11.2% from the second quarter of 2014.
- Non-federally guaranteed student loans stood at $3.3 billion, down 0.6% from the previous quarter but up 13.5% from the second quarter of 2014.
- Payday alternative loans outstanding at federal credit unions were $35.2 million, up 18.2% from the previous quarter and up 18.8% from the second quarter of 2014. The loans-to-shares ratio at the end of the second quarter was 75.5%, up 2.2 percentage points from the previous quarter and up 3.9 percentage points from the end of the second quarter of 2014. The ratio is nearing the system’s rolling 10-year average of 76.3%.
- Overall, total investments by federally insured credit unions stood at $279 billion at the end of the second quarter, a decline of 4.2% from the end of the second quarter of 2014. Compared to a year earlier, investments declined in all categories except those with maturities of one to three years, which increased 16.3% from a year earlier, to $108.6 billion. Investments with maturities greater than 10 years dropped 29.6% from the second quarter of 2014, to $4.8 billion. “As credit unions continued their efforts to prepare for interest rate risk, the system’s net long-term assets ratio fell to 32.6% in the second quarter,” NCUA said. “Credit unions with less than $10 million in assets had the lowest net long-term asset ratio of any peer group at 11%. In comparison, credit unions with more than $500 million in assets had a ratio of 33.6%.
In response to the new numbers, NAFCU CEO Dan Berger said, “The NCUA’s second-quarter call report data confirms that more and more people are recognizing credit unions’ value. Credit unions’ exceptional member service, competitive rates, low fees and low-cost, high-quality loans are a formula for success for their members and our nation’s economic growth.”