A survey of credit unions conducted by Credit Union 24 has found that more than half of credit unions surveyed (53%) reported seeing their numbers increase last year and that almost half (46%) attributed the increase to Bank Transfer Day.

The nationwide ATM and POS network collected the data as part of its fourth annual CU Industry Survey.

“The industry took a very aggressive approach to member recruitment during 2011 and it was successful,” said Jim Park, president/CEO of Credit Union 24.  “Bank Transfer Day, robust marketing strategies and an overall increased awareness of credit unions in the consumer marketplace all helped advanced the credit union movement; however, credit unions are rightly concerned with how to keep this momentum going in 2012.”

He added, “Credit unions continue to feel – for the fourth year in a row – that there are misconceptions of credit unions in the marketplace and that this is the leading challenge in attracting members. 

“Overall, we have moved the needle forward in advancing the credit union movement, but we all need to continue to work together to keep credit unions top-of-mind for consumers so we can continue our upward trajectory.”

Despite the membership growth in 2011, the survey also found that more than half of credit unions (54%) considered attracting new members to be one of their greatest challenges and overcoming consumer misconceptions about credit union benefits over banks one of their biggest obstacles.