PETERBOROUGH, N.H. -
According to Brookwood Capital's research on CU credit card portfolio sales activity for the first half of 2007, 35 CUs with credit card portfolios of more than $1 million in outstanding balances sold their portfolios in the first half of the year (17 in the first quarter, 18 in the second quarter).
Total balances sold for the year stand at approximately $233 million. On average, the size of the portfolios sold in the first half were $6.7 million.
AssetExchange, in Portland, Ore., did a similar study, and found that for the roughly 2,050 credit unions with credit card portfolios of $1 million and larger that CU credit cards are gaining strength in the market-there are both more cards in the market, and card balances have increased with the average balance per account growing about 10% from June 2006 to about $2,300 in June 2007.
Total credit card assets grew about twice as fast as total credit union assets, which grew 6.5% from June 2006 to June 2007.
Overall, year-to-date results put credit union portfolio sales almost exactly on a pace consistent with the results of the past several years. These trends continue to indicate that credit unions of all sizes are continuing to take a strategic look at their credit card product lines.
