Two Midwest Credit Unions Pay $7M to Members
It's the 39th consecutive year that members of CoVantage Credit Union in Wisconsin will get money back.
Nearly a quarter million members of two Midwest credit unions will share $7 million in special dividends, including some who joined through mergers in the past year.
CoVantage Credit Union of Antigo, Wis. ($1.9 billion, 118,315 members) paid members $4 million Dec. 31 as patronage dividends. The amount represents about $34 per member and 23 basis points of its 12-month ROA of 1.04%.
Community Choice Credit Union of Farmington Hills, Mich. ($1.2 billion, 105,957 members) will pay members more than $3 million this month as annual givebacks. The amount represents about $28 per member and 27 bps of its 12-month ROA of 0.69%.
The bonuses were up for both credit unions. Community Choice awarded $2.8 million through its 2018 “Get Big Rewards” program, and CoVantage awarded $3.4 million in special dividends last year.
“Patronage is a concept of giving back that originated among cooperatives many years ago. Most have abandoned the practice, but at CoVantage, patronage has been paid to member-owners for the past 39 consecutive years,” CoVantage’s news release said.
CoVantage depositors received a 5% bonus on dividends earned on eligible savings, term share certificates and variable rate accounts. Borrowers received a rebate of 5% of their total 2019 interest paid on qualifying vehicle, home equity, in-house mortgage, credit card, and commercial loans.
CoVantage Board Chairman, Lee Siler said this year’s award was the credit union’s largest. He thanked members, including “all who make their loan payments on time, as ongoing low delinquency was also a factor in this record return.”
As many as 12,000 of the recipients joined the credit unions through mergers completed in 2019.
Last summer, Community Choice acquired FME Federal Credit Union of St. Clair Shores, Mich., 26 miles east of Farmington Hills on the banks of Lake Michigan. As of its last call report in June, FME had $66.3 million in assets and 7,174 members.
In early 2019, CoVantage acquired CentralAlliance of Neenah, Wis. From Green Bay, Wis., CoVantage’s Antigo headquarters is about 85 miles northwest and Neenah is about 40 miles southwest. CentralAlliance’s last call report showed it ended 2018 with $72.5 million in assets and 4,694 members.
So far this season, 25 credit unions have announced $170.5 million in special dividends. The amount represents about $40 for each of their 4.3 million members and 30 bps of their 12-month returns of 1.09% on average assets of $56.8 billion.