BOSTON–A new analysis suggests credit unions and community banks are making “slow, but steady” progress in credit cards, carving into the marketshare held by the big national banks.
The analysis, conducted by PYMNTS Intelligence, follows an earlier report, “Credit Unions and Community Banks Gain Credit Card Issuing Momentum,” that found 24% of the more than 2,000 consumers surveyed said the next credit card application they complete will likely be with their CU or their community bank.
“This may also help explain why our research also revealed that the share of consumers whose primary credit card is associated with their primary national bank has fallen from 76% in 2020 to 68% last year,” PYMNTS.com stated in releasing its new findings. “This decline is even more remarkable when factoring in the inherent advantage national banks have when it comes to issuing cards. Not only do national banks lead the market in managing consumer bank accounts, but they also issue the most credit cards in the industry. Among the respondents we surveyed who have their primary bank account with a national bank, 82% also have their primary credit card with that same institution.”
‘Quietly Strengthening’ Positions
PYMNTS.com said that credit unions manage less than half that rate, at just 37%, while community banks, with 23%, manage even less.
Despite this disparity, PYMNTS.com said credit unions and community banks have been “quietly strengthening” their positions in the consumer credit card market in recent years. The report notes CUs increased their share of primary credit cards from 6% in 2020 to 8.3% in 2023, while community banks more than doubled their shares, moving from 2.3% to 5.1% in the same period.
An ‘Undeniable Trend’
The publication called the shift an “undeniable trend.”
PYMNTS.com forecast that both CUs and community banks will likely continue their “upward climb,” noting that approximately 15% said they would be most likely to apply for a new credit card from a credit union, marking a potential 83% increase versus the share that currently has a primary card from a CU.
Daily News Headlines. To Your Inbox. Every Day. And It’s Free
The biggest, best and freshest news reporting in credit unions remains free, and now has an added bonus---free shipping to your email address! That’s right. Each morning CUToday.info delivers its daily Fresh Today news update offering the latest headlines and breaking news right to your email, with the easy-to-read headlines format allowing you to click on the stories that interest you most in order to learn more. So stop paying those bank-fee-like subscription prices from other so-called “news” publications!
If you haven’t yet signed up for the new email solution on which CUToday.info has partnered with ResponseGenius, you can do so here. Signing up requires less than one minute of your time—and it’s free!
Please note that after signing up you may need to go to your Spam/Junk folder and mark the morning headlines email as safe. CUToday.info does not provide its list of readers and emails to outside parties, and we will not be contacting you to sell you an extended warranty or sending you any links so you may cash in on an inheritance.
And did we mention it’s free?