We’re barely past midyear and America’s credit unions are already proving 2016 is going to be a tough year to beat.
The industry posted an annual increase in membership of 4% during the second quarter of 2016. That’s the fastest second quarter growth since 2000. Credit unions now serve an all-time high of 106.4 million members. What’s more, total deposits have topped $1 trillion, and the average member relationship has hit $17,340.
This kind of superior performance brings about its own set of challenges and opportunities. And that’s exactly what Callahan partner Jay Johnson explores in the introduction to this quarter’s INDUSTRY PERFORMANCE section.
Every credit union has areas in which it can improve the member experience, Johnson says. The key is to have a process in place that empowers staff to identify areas for improvement and a system to prioritize the items that will have the greatest impact.
Read more in Credit Unions Face The Challenge Of Too Many Opportunities.
While you’re perusing the section, don’t overlook this quarter’s special report on non-interest income. Callahan Associates surveyed 170 credit union executives from 40 states to gain insight into their current and emerging sources of NII. See the highlights of what we discovered.
For this quarter’s ANATOMY OF A CREDIT UNION profile, associate editor Erik Payne talked with Meridian Trust Federal Credit Union in Cheyenne, WY. The $331.1 million cooperative has seen its fair share of ups and down and is preparing for a possible bumpy road ahead for members who rely on the businesses that serve and support the natural-resource rich state. The credit union’s leadership mixes a healthy dose of reality with an ever-upbeat attitude to find that sweet spot for member service. Read more in Anatomy Of Meridian Trust Federal Credit Union.
Callahan Associates has been in the data business for more than 30 years. We show credit unions how to improve their performance through sophisticated benchmarking techniques that help our clients outperform industry norms in several key areas. We’re all about data, and we are excited about the rise in business analytics that is helping credit unions identify better products, services, processes, and opportunities to serve their fields of membership. That’s why we talked to cutting-edge credit unions to learn how they make the most of business intelligence. Learn more in IDEAS IN ACTION.
Finally, in this quarter’s TECHNOLOGY@CU, we look at the new ways credit unions are finding to communicate with and educate an increasingly digital membership. Who would have thought about offering a webinar via Twitter five years ago? That’s old hat now at Redstone FCU. And Arizona FCU has produced an entire YouTube series aimed at helping members make a financial comeback. Learn about these strategies and more in TECHNOLOGY@CU.
What does next quarter have in store? Only time will tell. But for now, happy reading.
