Credit unions expand lending, memberships at 3Q ‘17

Credit union lending was up nearly 11% over the year ending Sept. 30, 2017, and memberships continued to surge, posting more than a 4% increase over the same period, according to figures released Wednesday by the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA).

Additionally, the federal regulator and insurer of credit unions stated, assets increased by 6.8% during the period, and the return on average assets (a key indicator of credit union profitability) was 79 basis points (up slightly from 78 bp in the previous period).

NCUA said that federally insured credit unions increased their lending in the one-year period ending Sept. 30 by $90 billion (for a total of $937 billion), largely driven by real estate loans (up $41.5 billion, or 9.9%) and auto loans (up $36 billion, or 12.4%), for totals of $462.5 billion and $198 billion, respectively.

Real estate loan totals made up nearly half of all loan amounts at credit unions, at 49.4%. Auto loan amounts accounted for just more than one-third of all loan dollars, at 35.4%.

Savings at the credit unions were up $65 billion (6.4%), to $1.08 trillion.

In memberships, the agency stated that federally insured credit unions increased their rolls by 4.3 million over the year period, for a total of 110.5 million at end of the third quarter of 2017.

The federal credit union regulator also reported:

  • The loan-to-share ratio was 81.4% at end of 3Q ’17, up from 78.6% at the end of the same period in 2016.
  • Credit unions’ combined net worth ratio was 10.89% in the third quarter of 2017, compared to 10.85% the year before.
  • Interest income was up 10.8% ($4.6 billion) to $46.7 billion; non-interest income increased 4.4% ($0.8 billion) to $17.8 billion.
  • Net income was $10.5 billion at the end of the one-year period, up 7.8%.

NCUA Releases Q3 2017 Credit Union System Performance Data