WASHINGTON—As CUToday.info launches a new series “100 Million Members, Now What?,” which is examining how many new members are being turned into contributing members, CUNA Chief Economist Bill Hampel reports that credit union membership growth continues its swift climb.
Hampel reported that in the 12 months ending in November, membership growth was 3.9%. “We are now at 102-million members, and when you consider the U.S. population is growing at less than 1%, and CU membership growth is nearly at 4%, that is a strong indication more Americans and choosing credit unions as their best financial partner.”
But as analysts have pointed out, unless credit unions initiate programs to effectively onboard and engage the new members, most are a drag on the cooperative. CUToday.info’s new series looks at how CUs are dealing with the membership success, and the first installment shows how the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award process has helped Elevations CU post record membership and capital growth at the same time, which can be read here.
Hampel said CU financial performance numbers indicate credit unions will record a very good year in 2014. CU loan growth through November was up 10% compared to the previous November. “This is the first time we have had over 10% growth on loans for credit unions in a decade. And it is balanced growth—a lot of consumer loan growth.”
Credit union net worth ratio continues to inch higher, at 10.8%, almost to pre-recession levels, noted Hampel. The loan-to-share ratio is 74.5%, while delinquencies remained stable.
Savings growth was up 4.5% from the previous November. Hampel does not expect savings growth to rise quickly until interest rates markedly rise, sometime in 2016, he said.
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