WASHINGTON – CUNA has revised down the number of new members credit unions attracted during September and October as part of the Bank Transfer Day hoopla by about one-third.
CUNA originally stated that credit unions signed 650,000 new members leading up to Bank Transfer Day. But after rechecking data and comparing it with the latest monthly CU reports, the trade association now estimates that 441,000 new members enrolled.
CUNA Chief Economist Bill Hampel said the difference likely resulted from CUs counting both new members and new checking accounts during the latest CUNA survey of credit unions. “And given there was some ambiguity in the way we asked the question, credit unions could have likely responded for both new checking accounts and new members,” Hampel told Credit Union Journal.
Hampel pointed out that the downgraded growth number is roughly equal to 75% of total member growth in all of 2010. “That is still very healthy growth.”
The 650,000 new members figure has been widely reported in national media and various blogs and other outlets.
