The Seattle Post-Intelligencer highlighted BECU‚s overall financial soundness and bottom line in a report on how financial institutions are faring. "Like many financial institutions, BECU-the state's largest and the nation's fourth-biggest credit union-is feeling the pinch of the economic downturn in the form of declining earnings, rising delinquencies and higher provisions to reserves for future loan losses," the article said, before noting that it has earned $35.7 million for the first nine months of the year, down from the $69.3 million for the same period of 2007. The piece added that the provision for loan losses has increased, but so, too, has membership, which is up 12%. CEO Gar Oakland was quoted as saying, "We're on target to have a reasonable year."
The Detroit Free Press provided a report on how a credit union has opened in "one of the nation's most economically depressed cities." In this case, the city was Highland Park, Mich., and the credit union was Communicating Arts CU. The story noted the facility has added 800 members since April, attracted $400,000 in new deposits and made $619,000 in loans. "It's pretty much a banner year for us," CEO Hank Hubbard was quoted as saying. "We didn't think there would be a lot of deposits here. A lot of people in these neighborhoods have money." Members of the CU were also quoted.
