MADISON, Wis. — With two weeks left of the year and fourth quarter data still to be parsed out, CUNA Mutual Group says 2013 "will go down as an exceptional year for CUs."
That's taken from the group's latest "Trends Report," which notes that membership, assets, loans, capital and more are up at credit unions, and all of that spells good things for the coming year.
"The nation's credit unions are supporting a modest recovery at the consumer level driven by replacement demand and low interest rates," according to the report. "The U.S. economy is moving in the right direction and should continue to do so provided the 'leaders,' regulators and agenda driven rule-writers don't mess it up. The only sure things in 2014 will be what you do for your members."
Among the highlights of the report are a 6.8% increase in loan volumes, highlighted by an 11.3% lift in vehicle loans.
'Great Divide' Persists
But the report also highlights the ongoing "Great Divide" between large and small CUs. More than 40% of all CUs (holding 16% of industry assets) reported negative loan growth during between Q3 2012 and Q3 2013, including half of all CUs with $50 million or less in assets.
Similarly, more than 80% of loan growth was derived from the 500 largest credit unions — just 7.4% of all CUs. Just 63 CUs in the top 500 (12.6%) reported declines in loan volume.
CUNA Mutual's report also noted that final numbers for 2013 loan growth will be largely dependent on first-mortgage loan sales, but "we expect CUs to carry considerable lending momentum into 2014."
Membership continues to be on the rise, with 98.9 million credit union members — an increase of 3 million during the past year. The 210 credit unions above $1 billion represented 66% of the membership gains, while 55% of all CUs reported declines in their membership over the course of the last year. If membership continues to grow, CUs should pass the 100-million member mark in 2014.
Member savings have increased by nearly 5% from a year ago, but will likely spike next month because of payroll timing, the report said. Deposit interest rates continue to be at record lows, while industry assets rose 5.4% over the last year to $1.087 trillion. About 34% of all CUs (representing 10% of industry assets) reported asset declines between Q3 2012 and Q3 2013.
