WASHINGTON – NAFCU has released its 2020 Report on Credit Unions, which reveals CU branches, particularly in rural areas, are growing while banks cut back on offices, and CUs are ten times more likely to be run by a female CEO than banks.
The report also shows, among other things, the critical and growing role credit unions play in local communities, including their efforts in helping Americans overcome the coronavirus pandemic, NAFCU said.
The report on credit unions looks at four key areas: credit union trends, credit unions' service offerings, policy priorities for credit unions, and the industry’s strong response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Some of the key findings in the 2020 report include the following:
Industry Trends
The vast majority of credit unions are small institutions with limited resources. The median credit union manages only $40 million in assets and has just 10 employees.
- Credit unions are 10 times more likely than banks to have a female CEO. Among minority depository institutions, there are over three times as many credit unions as banks. Credit unions serve more low- and moderate-income households than banks do, with better pricing and lower fees.
Credit Union Product & Service Offerings
- Data from the Federal Reserve and from the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act show that credit unions are serving a high proportion of minority communities and low- and moderate-income households.
- Mortgage data indicate that credit union loans carry lower costs and lower rates than those of other lenders.
- Bank branch networks are eroding at a troubling rate, but the growth of credit union branches, particularly in rural areas, provides an important counterbalance.
- Credit unions offer abundant access to products like free checking, and they are ramping up investments in financial technology.
Credit Unions Respond to the Pandemic
- Credit unions have been successfully adjusting their operations during COVID-19. Reports from NAFCU members reveal that remote work arrangements have exceeded expectations, NAFCU said.
- "As life ground to a halt, credit unions worked diligently to meet their members’ needs, adding staff to call centers, extending loan forbearance, and, for many, taking part in the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program with little past experience working with the SBA," NAFCU said.
- Virtually every financial regulator produced some measure of COVID-related relief to help ease economic and operational shocks within the financial sector.
“The coronavirus pandemic posed many challenges for our nation,” said NAFCU President and CEO Dan Berger. “The 2020 NAFCU Report on Credit Unions shows how credit unions proactively and successfully adjusted their daily operations to help Americans nationwide, including many low- and moderate-income communities. As credit unions continue to help our economy recover and families make ends meet amid the pandemic, regulatory and compliance burdens still weigh heavily on their ability to serve members. The report details the importance for policymakers to ease regulatory burdens on credit unions as they continue to put the financial well-being of their members well ahead of their own profits.”