Forty percent of the industry's year-to-date savings increase has flowed into money market accounts ahead of regular shares and certificates of deposit.

Members are keeping liquid with 59% of deposits in share drafts, regular shares, and MMAs, according to CUNA Mutual Group's November Credit Union Trends Report, which tracked data up to September. MMAs had an average yield of 1.25%. The second largest contributor to growth was regular shares. This account class is up 10.9% YTD and contributed 35% of total growth, despite yields averaging just 0.63%, the data showed. CDs were down in September and are up only 1.3% YTD with a still "generous" yield of 2.0%.

Despite an expected fractional decline in September, total savings at CUs are up 10.8% over the past year and 8.6% YTD. Compared to 2008, YTD growth has outpaced the same period's results and annual growth every year since 2003, noted CUNA Mutual Chief Economist Dave Colby in the report. The $59.8 billion YTD increase in savings tops all annual marks and is almost 100% above the five-year average annual gain. Colby pointed out that savings increased just 0.7% in the third quarter of 2009.