Performance reports

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - While sinking mortgage numbers were the most glaring in the data released by NCUA for federally insured credit unions during the first quarter of the year (see related story, page 12), the data also shows:

PORTLAND, Ore. - Credit card balances among CU members grew by nearly 10% at the end of the first quarter of 2008 over the same period one year earlier, while credit unions continue to gain strength in the overall card market.

SAN DIEGO - As the economy continues to be a hot topic, Credit Union Journal asked attendees of WesCorp’s recent Future Forum here, ‘What is your corporate doing to help your CU get through the economic slowdown?’

SAN DIEGO - Despite all the chatter about a recession, several economic experts said it looks like this could be the recession that wasn’t.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Credit unions will be receiving new guidance in the near future regarding what NCUA considers appropriate levels of return on assets (ROA), according to the agency.

PITTSBURGH - In the small, former steel mill town of Monessen, Penn., 30 miles south of Pittsburgh, Jim Ritter, CEO of Valley 1st Community FCU, is seeing some of the toughest economic conditions in the nine years he’s run the credit union. Many residents are struggling with finances, with rising prices for energy and commodities hitting the elderly the hardest.

WASHINGTON - Economic stimulus checks have begun showing up in mailboxes, and the IRS has issued an alert that scam artists are actively making the rounds using the proposed rebates as bait. Among the scams:

PITTSBURGH - Credit Union Journal asked CUs at the Pennsylvania CU Association’s annual meeting, “How is the economy affecting your members?”

MADISON, Wis. - Loans at credit unions increased during March, including fixed-rate mortgages, which were up 2.8%, according to analysis by CUNA. But auto loan balances saw their biggest declines in a decade. CUNA Senior Economist Steve Rick released a statement saying CUs are gaining loan volume as the result of competitors tightening loan standards.

RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif. - Credit unions’ share of auto loans dropped slightly during 2007, according to the 2008 Auto Lending Business Intelligence Report released by Credit Union Direct Lending.

ORLANDO, Fla. - Not surprisingly, “growth” dominated the discussion last week during Credit Union Journal’s Grow Show here. More surprisingly, perhaps, was that it was generally agreed by many of the fastest-growing credit unions in the country that growth as a strategy and growth for growth’s sake is a mistake that often leads to just the opposite.

CONCORD, Calif. - Members continued to draw their funds out of ailing Cal State 9 CU at an increasing rate in the first quarter, while losses at the one-time $465-million institution, another victim of the mortgage crisis, continued to grow.

WASHINGTON - The Federal Open Market Committee of the Federal Reserve dropped its overnight target rates by .25%, the seventh rate cut since September 2007.

MIRAMAR, Fla. - Growing losses on exotic mortgage-backed securities have forced Eastern Financial Florida CU to submit new financials to NCUA showing even larger record losses for 2007 of $68.9 million.

SAN DIEGO - More California credit unions, large and small, are reporting losses for the first quarter of 2008, what some are calling “collateral damage” from the subprime meltdown.

SAN DIEGO - Two mergers of large credit unions have rocked the Southern California market with the general conclusion that size, apparently, does matter.

WASHINGTON - One of the largest student-run credit unions in the country has worked to turn itself around after getting a lesson in Competition 101 from a local bank.

RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif. - Get ready to go home armed with three actionable items for member growth and profit improvement through payment systems.

MADISION, Wisc. - Credit unions are losing out on opportunities if they don’t address their generation gap, reports CUNA Mutual.

MADISON, Wis. - In market in which the only thing increasing is expenses and competition and the only thing shrinking is margins, credit unions have no choice but to trust each other and collaborate to survive, according to a new report released by the Filene Research Institute.