Recent gains in share drafts at credit unions may be impacted by holiday spending.

The 8.0% month-only gain in share drafts likely means that money will flow out in October and November, according to CUNA Mutual Group's November Credit Union Trends Report, which tracked data through September.

Although to a lesser extent, that same pattern might be seen in December as consumers spend on holiday purchases with check and debit cards versus credit cards.

Meanwhile, with members still preferring to remain liquid, certificates of deposit continue to take a back seat to regular shares and share drafts.

From September 2010 to this September, 108% of all credit union deposit growth has come from regular shares and share drafts, the data showed. Certificates of deposit were down $12 billion or 5.4% over the same period.

“The 2001-2003 economic downturn saw a precautionary savings build-up as did the 2007-2009 period. While most in the industry do not feel we are in a recovery phase, savings growth is down,” the report read.

That lack of savings build-up has been impacted by members still choosing to pay down debt and credit unions not wanting any larger inflows of deposits, according to the report.