This week, CreditUnions.com shows how to run an advisory council for college kids by college kids finds out what a Director of Continuous Improvement does, and runs the numbers on first quarter performance.
Here are five can’t-miss data points:
5
To serve the needs and wants of young members, credit unions especially college- and university-affiliated ones must constantly re-evaluate these members financial knowledge, awareness, and preferences. For Harvard University Employees Credit Union, it goes directly to the source for this information. The credit union serves the students, alumni, and faculty of Harvard University. For the past nine months, it has consulted with its newly formed five-student Student Advisory Council on matters of financial education programming, university engagement events, student banking services, and more. The insight of the council helps the credit union remain relevant in the eyes of Harvardians.
Read: How To Run An Advisory Council For College Students, By College Students
25 Years
When SAFE Federal Credit Union was looking for a new hire to lead the transformation of its operations through critical systems conversions and beyond, it found a purple unicorn in Wayne Keels. Keels moved to central South Carolina in late 2018 to become SAFE’s new director of continuous improvement after four years with Discover Financial Services in suburban Chicago. It’s the latest stop in a 25-year career in project management that began with extended internships with NASA while he was completing his master’s degree in computer science from Purdue University. The American Society for Quality defines continuous improvement as the ongoing improvement of products, services, or processes through incremental and breakthrough improvements.
Read: What’s In A Name: Director Of Continuous Improvement
$350.6 Billion
Credit unions held $350.6 billion in cash and investments at year-end 2018. Largely because of declining Fed balances and cash at corporate credit unions, that’s down 4.1% from $365.6 billion in 2017. As of year-end 2018, credit unions held 61.0% of all investments in federal agency securities, which includes available for sale securities, government obligations, and agency debt instruments, among others.
Read: Credit Unions Are Redirecting Investments To Fund Loans
1.9%
Member business loans at credit unions reached $69.6 billion in the fourth quarter of 2018, translating to an annual increase of 1.9%, or $1.3 billion. As of Dec. 31, 2018, member business loans comprised 6.6% of total loans. That’s down 46 basis points from one year ago.
Read: Commercial Loans Grow In The Credit Union Loan Portfolio
4.7 Million
Credit union membership is on track to expand 4.2% year-over-year, according to first quarter performance data analyzed by Callahan & Associates. The credit union industry added 4.7 million members to the cooperative movement over the past 12 months, bringing the total to 118.8 million as of March 31, 2019.
Read: Member Relationships Are On The Rise
Happy Reading!
