Credit Union Trends Report

CUNA Mutual Group
October 14, 2009 | COMMENTS

Every month CUNA Mutual Group publishes its Credit Union Trends Report, which summarizes relevant industry data concerning total lending, credit union consumer installment credit, vehicle loans, real-estate secured lending, surplus funding, savings and assets, capital and other key measures, and credit unions and members.

The October 2009 report (August 2009 data) indicates that mid-year data revisions showed fewer credit unions, reduced assets, and fractionally higher loans and members. Other highlights include:

Revisions subtracted 31 credit unions from previous estimates, but the rate of decline remains below expectations. At the end of August, CUNA estimates show 7,927 credit unions. This represents a net decline of 276 credit unions over the past year and 161 credit unions year-to-date (YTD).

Semi-annual revisions knocked asset growth down by 1.6%. Total assets now stand at $893 billion, up 8.6% over the past year and 7.3% YTD. Low-cost liquid deposit accounts continue to drive savings growth.

Revisions didn't change loan growth trends. The slowdown continues with annual growth now 3.2%, the slowest rate of expansion since early 1993. Credit unions are lending, but they are also selling more mortgages to avoid undue interest rate risk.

Membership was restated 163,000 higher. At 92.4 million, total membership has increased by 1.17 million over the past year. Slight declines are likely by year-end.

The capital-to-asset ratio rose to 9.9% as capital is up four consecutive months. The loan-to-share ratio improved to 78.2% as savings fell in August. Delinquent loans equal $10.1 billion and the delinquency rate ticked up to 1.72%.

See the complete Credit Union Trends Report online here. Reprinted with permission.