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.
In addition to attracting members, credit unions have expanded their relationships with members old and new. The average member relationship is on track to hit $19,147, a $561 increase over the first quarter of 2019. Loan balances per member are projected to increase 5.0% year-over-year to $8,395, whereas the average share balance per member on track to hit $10,752 represents a more tempered annual growth of 1.6%.
AVERAGE MEMBER RELATIONSHIP
FOR U.S. CREDIT UNIONS | DATA AS OF 03.31.19
Callahan & Associates | CreditUnions.com
Analysts from Callahan & Associates project the average member relationship at U.S. credit unions increased $561 over the first quarter of 2018.
Members are diversifying the way they interact with their credit unions, which is evident in improvements in credit card, share draft, and auto loan penetration in the first quarter. According to early results, 58.1% of credit union members had a share draft account as of March 31, 2019. That’s up 82 basis points year-over-year. Share draft penetration, the backbone of a member’s relationship with the credit union, hit an all-time high of 58.1% 6.4 percentage points higher than five years ago.
PENETRATION RATES
FOR U.S. CREDIT UNIONS | DATA AS OF 03.31.19
Callahan & Associates | CreditUnions.com
Credit card, real estate, share draft and auto penetration are all on track to increase year-over-year.
Credit card penetration is also on the rise, with Callahan analysts projecting an annual increase of 16 basis points to 17.5%. Elsewhere in the loan portfolio, Callahan analysts expect auto penetration to increase 58 basis points to 21.2%.