Two firms that analyze and consult on credit card portfolios reported that 13 CUs with portfolios of more than $1 million in outstanding balances sold those portfolios during the first quarter of the year.
Both AssetExchange, here, and Peterborough, N.H.-based Brookwood Capital provided research on card portfolio sales for the quarter.
Among the findings by AssetExchange's analysis of 2,070 CUs with portfolios of $1 million and larger:
* The percentage of CU members that have CU credit cards, declined slightly, falling from 18.1% in March 2005 to 18.0% in March 2006.
* Total card assets for portfolios over $1 million increased from $20.9 billion in March 2005 to $22.9 billion in March 2006. This represents an annual growth of 4.2% in inflation adjusted dollars.
* Total card assets for portfolios over $1 million increased slightly as a percentage of total assets, increasing from 3.96% in March 2005 to 4.06 in March 2006.
* The percentage of portfolios that grew more than the rate of inflation during the previous 12 months increased from 28% in March 2006 to 32% in March 2006.
* Approximately 13 CUs with card portfolios larger than $1 million sold their portfolios during the first quarter of 2006, with a combined dollar volume of roughly $97.5 million.
Among Brookwood's findings:
* Total balances sold during the quarter were approximately $97 million.
* On average, the size of the portfolios sold in the first was $7.5 million, slightly higher than in any prior year.
