Competing with some of the nation's biggest banks, five credit unions made the list for the 25 largest auto lenders among depository institutions in the United States.
According to SNL Financial, the $15 billion Pentagon Federal Credit Union, which ranked 22nd, posted the highest quarterly growth rate in auto loans among the top 25 for the fourth quarter in 2012.
The Alexandria, Va.-based cooperative grew its portfolio by 10.9% during that period by pricing its loans very competitively, the data showed.
"Not including any current rate specials, Pentagon Fed's average rate on a 60-month new car loan was 2.74% as of SNL's most recent rate collection date, significantly below the national average rate of 4.24%," according to the Charlottesville, Va.-based data and analytic firm, which released its analysis Wednesday.
Other credit unions that made SNL Financial's top 25 auto lender list were the $52 billion Navy Federal Credit Union in Vienna, Va., which ranked 14th, $6 billion Security Service Federal Credit Union in San Antonio, (17th), $5 billion Alaska USA Federal Credit Union in Anchorage, Alaska (23rd) and the $5 billion America First Federal Credit Union in Riverdale, Utah (25th).
Auto loans amassed during the fourth quarter were:
- Navy Federal $691 million
- Security Service FCU $520 million
- Pentagon FCU $271 million
- Alaska USA FCU $224 million
- America First FCU $170 million
According to SNL Financial, Ally Financial Inc. in Detroit ranked first in its top 25 list of the top auto lenders followed by Wells Fargo & Co. in San Francisco, JP Morgan Chase & Co. in New York, Capital One Financial Corp. in McClean, Va., and Bank of America Corp. in Charlotte, N.C.
Despite the rankings, SNL Financial said auto loans only grew 1.27% over 2012's third quarter figures.
Those figures are in contrast to auto lending growth within the credit union industry last year. As of January, overall vehicle loans were $15.6 billion or 9.3% above the January 2012 level, according to CUNA Mutual Group's March Credit Union Trends Report. As a result, annual growth in January was at its highest level in more than seven years.
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