Credit Unions Widen Slice of Plastic in May

Credit union members borrowed more deeply with their credit cards in May, allowing the movement’s balances to continue to rise faster than those of banks or finance companies, according to a Fed report Monday.

The G-19 Consumer Credit Report showed credit unions held $63.2 billion in credit card debt on May 31, up 8.4% from a year earlier

Among all lenders, consumers had $1.03 trillion in credit card debt as of May 31, up 4.7% from a year earlier.

Credit card debt rose 5% to $923.9 billion at banks, and fell 9% to $22.1 billion at finance companies in May.

Credit unions’ share of credit card debt was 6.1% in May, unchanged from April and up from 6% in May 2018. Banks’ share was 89.8% in May, unchanged from April and up from 89.6% in May 2018.

Credit unions have outpaced banks every month since January 2017. However, like other sectors, card growth has slowed in the past year for credit unions. Twelve-month balance growth was 9.6% for both May 2018 and May 2017.

The Consumer Credit Report shows revolving loans, or credit cards, and non-revolving loans, which include automobile loans and unsecured consumer term loans.

Total non-revolving debt was $3.02 trillion on May 31, up 5.4% from a year earlier. Non-revolving debt rose 9.1% to $410.6 billion at credit unions, and 5.5% to $755.2 billion at banks.

Next month’s report for June will include the Fed’s quarterly estimates for vehicle loans and student loans. It is scheduled for release Aug. 7.