State-chartered CUs hold nearly half of industry's assets: NASCUS

State-chartered credit unions marked a milestone this week.

Two combined data sets revealed that state charters are now effectively level with their federal counterparts when it comes to industry-wide percentage of assets held.

According to the National Association of State Credit Union Supervisors, mid-year data released this week by the National Credit Union Administration – along with figures NASCUS obtained on privately insured credit unions – show state charters holding 49% of assets ($753 billion) and 48% of credit union memberships (57.4 million). NASCUS says those figures are the highest they have been in four years.

The first half of 2019 saw state-chartered credit unions expand assets at an annualized rate of nearly 10.2%, NASCUS said, compared with just over 8% for FCUs. Memberships also grew faster, the group said, with federal charters growing at 2.9% over the 12-month period ending June 30 compared with 3.6% for state charters.

“Clearly the dual-chartering system is working as intended, fostering robust state and federal systems,” NASCUS President and CEO Lucy Ito said in an email. “On the state side, it could only happen with strong and enlightened supervision among state regulators, and personal commitment by credit union boards and practitioners to continued and safe and sound service to their members and their communities.”

Still, those growth figures belie the fact that the number of institutions across the industry continues to shrink. NCUA’s data showed CUs of both charters declining, with FCUs dropping by 3.2% in the year ending June 30, compared with a 3.1% drop for state charters. The number of federally chartered institutions still far exceeds the number of state charters, though fewer state charters shut their doors in the last year, and more institutions continue to convert from a federal to state charter than the other way around.