While year-to-date membership growth mirrors what it looked like around last July, it is not expected to mimic the steep decline seen in the second half of 2008.
Total membership reached 92 million at the end of July, according to the September edition of CUNA Mutual Group's Credit Union Trends Report. Like 2008, year-to-date membership is up 1.2 million. However, unlike last year, CUNA Mutual does not expect the steep decline in the second half of this year. CUNA Mutual Chief Economist Dave Colby is forecasting a total increase of 1.2 million members in 2009 followed by an average annual increase of 812,000 over the next three years.
Fifty-one percent of all credit unions or a total of 3,987 reported declines in membership from mid-year 2008 to mid-year 2009, according to the data. Colby said these credit unions represent 26% of the movement's assets, which includes 31 billion-dollar credit unions.
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The top 500 credit unions, which account for 6.4% of cooperatives in the industry, held 56% of all members by the middle of the year. On the other end of the spectrum, the smallest 5,000 credit unions or 64% all credit unions, held just 10% of membership.
"We may have reached the bottom of our current recession, but the road to recovery will be uneven," Colby said.
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