NEW YORK–Credit unions continued to successfully build their credit card portfolios during the fourth quarter of 2019, but auto loan penetration “flat-lined” according to one new analysis.
S&P Global Market Intelligence said its analysis of Q4 data showed credit card penetration, or the number of credit card loans as a percentage of total credit union members, was 17.7% in the fourth quarter of 2019, up 10 basis points from the third quarter and 14 basis points from the year-ago quarter.
Credit card penetration at Olympia Fields, Ill.-based St. James Hospital Employees FCU was 49.6% at the end of December 2019, a 28.1-percentage point increase quarter over quarter, and the largest improvement among all credit unions. Houston-based Houston Texas Fire Fighters FCU's credit card uptake was 45.0% at the end of the fourth quarter of 2019, a 19.8-percentage-point increase since Sept. 30, 2019, S&P Global Market Intelligence reported.
The nation's largest credit union, Navy FCU in Vienna, Va., had the highest number of credit card loans during the quarter. The credit union's credit card loans uptake was 33.2%, up 50 basis points from the linked quarter, according to the company.
Vehicle Loan Penetration
Meanwhile, vehicle loan penetration among all credit unions was 21.3% at the end of the fourth quarter of 2019, up just two basis points from Sept. 30, 2019, and eight basis points from the year-ago quarter, S&P Global Market Intelligence said. “Vehicle loan penetration rose steadily from 16.7% in the first quarter of 2014 to 21.06% in the third quarter of 2018, but has almost stalled since then,” according to S&P.
Navy FCU reported a two-basis-point quarter-over-quarter increase in used-vehicle loan penetration to 7.5%, while new-vehicle loan penetration dropped five basis points to 3.3%, S&P Global Market Intelligence said.
Riverdale, Utah-based America First FCU had the largest quarter-over-quarter jump in used-vehicle loan penetration among the top lenders at 26 basis points to 26.1%. “On the other hand, San Antonio-based Security Service FCU saw its used-vehicle loan penetration fall by 61 basis points in the quarter to 20.2%,” the report states.
Colorado Springs, Colo.-based Ent CU increased its new auto loan penetration by 15 basis points quarter over quarter to 18.9% as of Dec. 31, 2019, the largest jump in the group, while Security Service saw the greatest decline in new vehicle loan penetration with a 56 basis point drop to 13.5%, the report added.