Deposits Flow Out Of CreditUnions

MADISON, Wis. - (07/06/06) – Members drained another $5.6billion from their credit union accounts in May, one of the worstmonths ever for credit union growth, CUNA reported Wednesday. Sincethe end of March $8.5 billion of savings have flowed out of creditunions, as slow to negative growth is causing increasing concernfor the movement. Through the first five months of 2006 savingshave grown a meager 1.7%, the slowest five months on record,according to the trade group. Lending has also slowed to afive-year low, with loans expanding by just 2.8% the start of theyear, down from 3.8% for the same period last year. Loans grew by1% in May but all of the most important loan categories showeddeclines, as rate uncertainty seemed to affect members. In May,both ARM and fixed-rate mortgages declined by 1.4%, new car loansby 0.8%, used car loans by 0.3%, and home equity lending by0.2%.