Credit union membership soared during the first two months of 2016, with 820,000 new members joining compared to 420,000 during the first two months of 2015, CUNA Mutual Group said in its monthly trends report.
During the past year, memberships grew 4.2%. CUNA Mutual projected that membership should grow more than 3% this year.
The membership growth can be attributed to the 413,000 jobs that were created in January and February, as well as growth in credit union auto lending.
At the end of February, there were 6,187 credit unions in operation, 11 fewer than in January. Year over year, the number of credit unions decreased by 273 – less than the 286 lost in the 12 months ending in February 2015. There were 15 credit union mergers in February, up from seven mergers in February 2015.
CUNA Mutual said the pace of credit union consolidation is speeding up because of retiring baby boomer CEOs, increased regulatory and compliance burdens, low net interest margins, increased concerns over scale and operating efficiency, rising competitive pressure and members' demand for more products.
Credit union assets increased 1.6% in February; that is below the 1.9% increase in February of last year. Assets rose 6.1% during the past year.
Credit union loan balances increased 0.3% in February – the same amount of growth experienced in February 2015. Loan balances increased 10.4% during the last 12 months. Auto loan balances rose 0.9% in February even though that month is usually the weakest month of the year for new auto loans.
Credit union fixed-rate mortgage balances increased 0.3%, higher than the -1.3% drop in February 2015.
Credit union savings balances increased 2.1% in February, slightly higher than the 2% gain during the same month last year.
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