NCUA: 800,000 Consumers Join CUs During 1st Quarter
ALEXANDRIA, Va.-Credit unions added 800,000 new members in the first quarter of the year, the best quarter ever for membership growth, NCUA said.
The membership spurt brought total membership across the country to 94.6 million at the end of the first quarter.
CUs added 808,006 members in the first quarter, up from 700,000 in the first quarter last year, and have added 2.1 million members in the last four quarters.
While membership is up, the number of federally insured CUs declined to 6,753, a drop of 66 for the quarter. The decline is consistent with recent industry trends.
The new members helped push loan growth up 0.4% in the first quarter, a traditional slow time for lending, and the fastest first-quarter growth in five years, NCUA said.
The new members also brought their savings with them, adding $32 billion of new deposits in the first quarter.
Still, the brunt of the growth continues in the biggest CUs. The 423 largest CUs had a return on average assets of 1% for the quarter. In comparison, 2,279 CUs with less than $10 million in assets had an ROA of negative 0.14%, and 3,007 credit unions with $10 million to $100 million in assets had an ROA of just 30 basis points.
CU Groups Support Tweaks To 'Ability To Repay' Rules
WASHINGTON-Both CU trade associations last week issued statements supportive of adjustments made by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to its "Ability to Repay" rules, including delay of implementation.
The rule generally extends qualified mortgage status to certain loans that creditors hold in portfolio, even if the consumer's debt-to-income ratio exceeds 43%. The final rule allows small creditors to charge a higher annual percentage rate for certain first-lien qualified mortgages while maintaining a safe harbor for the Ability-to-Repay requirements. "We are hopeful these adjustments will enable more credit unions to continue to meet their members' borrowing needs in a way that minimizes risk and default," said CUNA CEO Bill Cheney.
NAFCU CEO Fred Becker noted: "We will see if they go far enough to ease the requirements so that credit unions will feel confident in continuing to offer qualified mortgages to their members." NAFCU is also pressing additional changes, especially in regards to debt-to-income ratio and points and fees.
CU Vote-Rigging Lawsuit Dismissed
PORTLAND, Ore.-A federal court dismissed a suit claiming the incumbent board and management of St. Helens Community FCU rigged last year's vote to recall the majority of the board, ruling the member is not the proper party to bring the suit.
But Steven Knebel, who filed the suit, said he plans to appeal, and will file a similar action in state court, which he hopes will be more amenable to his cause.
In dismissing the suit, the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon ruled that because Knebel alleged the mail-in ballot for the board ouster violated NCUA's rules, only NCUA-not a member-can move to enforce the bylaws.
The suit claims standard NCUA bylaws of the $160 million CU bar anyone from voting in the recall of directors who does not attend a special meeting called for the recall. St. Helens allowed members to vote by mail for the recall, then announced immediately that the recall initiative had failed-but did not announce a vote count.
Study: Women Have Better Credit
COSTA MESA, Calif.-A new Experian study of 750,000 credit reports found that women have less debt than men and slightly higher credit scores. Men have 4.3% more debt than women, who claim an average credit score of 675, compared with 674 for men. Women earn 23% less than men, but men use slightly more of their available credit (31%) than women (30%). Men carry an average $26,227 in credit card debt, personal loans and auto loans compared with a $25,095 average for a woman. The study also showed that men want bigger homes-taking out larger mortgages ($187,245 average) than women ($178,140).
Who's The Most Deserving Dad?
REDDING, Calif.-With Father's Day approaching, Members 1st CU is staging a video contest for the most deserving dad in Shasta and Tehama counties, with the winner receiving two tickets to a San Francisco Giants game. The video should explain why the dad is special and most deserving, how he goes above the call of duty in daily actions, how he may have overcome obstacles, etc. Nominations should be made in the form of a 30-second video, which can be submitted to the CU's Facebook page.
