MADISON, Wis.–Deposits continued to flow into credit unions in January at an unusually high rate, right? Wrong, according to CUNA’s latest Monthly Credit Union Estimates.
In January of 2021, even in the wake of a second stimulus payout, deposit inflows were actually below those of one year earlier and the traditional pace of January, according to Mike Schenk, VP of research and policy analysis and CUNA’s chief economist.
“The data we have for January is interesting because it doesn’t really reflect a huge increase in savings balances during the month,” said Schenk, pointing to the .9% increase in savings balances. “From a historical context that’s not really substantial. In January of 2020, for example, prior to any stimulus checks, January savings growth was 1.2%.
“I think it’s good news in the grand scheme of things,” Schenk continued. “It might be an indication credit union members took some of that stimulus money and did what we want them to do: spend it. I will be interested to see what happens in February and with the additional pandemic relief in the pipeline.”
On the other side of the balance sheet, CUNA reported credit union loans outstanding decreased 0.2% in January, compared to a 0.1% increase in December of 2020 and a 0.3% increase in January of 2020. Adjustable-rate mortgages led loan growth during the month, rising 0.8%, followed by fixed-rate mortgages (0.5%), and used auto loans (0.4%). On the decline during the month were new auto loans (-0.6%), home equity loans (-0.8%), other mortgage loans (-1.1%), credit card loans (-3.0%), and unsecured personal loans (-3.2%), CUNA said.
Additional Data
CUNA’s January numbers also show:
- Ratios: The loan-to-savings ratio slightly decreased from 73.5% in December to 72.8% in January. The liquidity ratio (the ratio of surplus funds maturing in less than one year to borrowings plus other liabilities) increased from 21.1% in December to 21.5% in January.
- Membership: Total credit union membership grew 0.3% during January to 127.0 million.
- Capital. The movement’s overall capital-to-asset slightly remained at 10.3% in January. The total dollar amount of capital increased by 0.6% to $195.6 billion, CUNA said.
CUNA’s full Monthly Estimates can be found here.