The percentage of members who carry credit cards from their credit union declined slightly as of Sept. 30, according to an analysis by AssetExchange.
The company, which brokers credit card portfolios, said its analysis of the 2,100 credit unions with card portfolios of more than $1 million showed that 18.1% of members carried cards from their CU as of Sept. 30, down from 18.8% one year earlier.
Total card assets for portfolios over $1 million increased to $21.8-billion from $20.6 billion one year earlier, an annual growth of just over 3% in inflation-adjusted dollars is similar to year over year growth seen earlier in 2005.
According to Asset Exchange, total card assets for portfolios over $1 million increased slightly as a percentage of total assets, increasing to 4.09% as of Sept. 30 from 4.05% in September 2004.
The percentage of portfolios that grew more than the rate of inflation during the previous 12 months increased from 43% in September 2004 to 51% in September 2005, the company said, adding, "Thus, virtually the same number of portfolios grew as shrunk in real dollar terms during the 12 months ending in September 2005."
Approximately 11 credit unions with credit card portfolios larger than $1 million sold their portfolios during the third quarter of 2005, with a combined dollar volume of roughly $80 million, Asset Exchange said. "This brings the total for 2005 (through the third quarter) to 50 portfolios sold at a total volume of $330 million. Compared to 2004, this represents a 10% increase in the number of portfolio sales (45) and a 17.5% decrease in dollar volume ($400 million)," it added.
