8 CUs Pay Out Nearly $20M in Special Dividends

Eight credit unions from Albuquerque, N.M., to Washington, D.C. have announced $19.9 million in special dividends, including a San Francisco Bay-area credit union paying one for the first time.

Two-thirds of this round—the 10th group tallied so far this season by CU Times—came from Bank-Fund Staff Federal Credit Union of Washington, D.C., which paid members $7 million, and Nusenda Credit Union of Albuquerque, which paid members $6.6 million.

Altogether, the eight credit unions paid members $19.9 million in January as special dividends. The amount represents about $38 for each of their 520,851 members and 15 basis points of their 0.95% return on $13 billion in average assets for the 12 months ending Sept. 30.

The smallest amount came from North Bay Credit Union of Santa Rosa, Calif. ($104.9 million in assets, 2,738 members), which announced Tuesday that it is paying members $250,000 this month.

But the payment represents a sizeable $91 per member and 25 bps of its ROA of 1.53% for the 12 months ending Sept. 30.

Moreover, the special dividend is its first since it opened in 1948 as the Sonoma County Grange Credit Union to serve area farmers. In 2017 it began serving cannabis companies, and in 2020, it expanded to include Marin, Solano and Napa counties, also along the north shore of the San Francisco Bay.

In a 94-second video posted Jan. 26, President/CEO Chris Call announced that the board had chosen to declare its first-ever Patronage Dividend “after a record-breaking year.”

“That’s a quarter of a million dollars going back into the pockets of our members,” Call said. “It’s a reward for helping us achieve our success; it’s a rebate on the amounts they’ve contributed to the earnings of the credit union over the year; and it is really to reward the loyalty of our members, who have supported us for these many years.”

Here are some details on the other seven special dividends:

1. Bank-Fund Staff FCU ($6.4 billion in assets, 90,149 members) paid members $7 million in January. The supplemental dividend represents about $78 per member and 12 bps of its ROA of 0.84% for the 12 months ending Sept. 30.
2. Nusenda CU ($3.7 billion, 233,970 members) paid members $6.6 million end of January as special dividends. The amount represents about $28 per member and 20 bps of its ROA of 0.98% for the 12 months ending Sept. 30.
3. evolve Federal Credit Union, El Paso, Texas ($361 million, 18,172 members) paid members $2 million in January as a Patronage Dividend. The amount represents about $110 per member and 57 bps of its ROA of 0.58% for the 12 months ending Sept. 30.
4. Charter Oak Federal Credit Union, Waterford, Conn. ($1.5 billion, 83,867 members) paid members $767,500 in December as Gold Rewards bonuses. The amount represents about $9 per member and 5 bps of its ROA of 0.79% for the 12 months ending Sept. 30.
5. Clark County Credit Union, Las Vegas ($1.1 billion, 49,099 members) paid members $2.4 million Jan. 21 as Bonus Dividends. The amount represents about $49 per member and 23 bps of its ROA of 1.2% for the 12 months ending Sept. 30.
6. Heartland Credit Union, Hutchinson, Kans. ($473.4 million, 31,779 members) paid members $550,000 Jan. 21 as Bonus Dividends. The amount represents about $17 per member and 13 bps of its ROA of 2.62% for the 12 months ending Sept. 30.
7. OTIS Federal Credit Union, Jay, Maine ($227.1 million, 11,077 members) paid members $261,212 Jan. 1 as a 5% Bonus Dividend and Interest Refund. The amount represents about $24 per member and 12 bps of its ROA of 0.36% for the 12 months ending Sept. 30.

So far this season, 38 credit unions ($122 billion, 6.6 million members) have announced $264.2 million in special dividends. The amount represents about $40 per member and 23 bps of their 12-month ROA of 1.27%.

Credit unions interested in sharing their special dividend announcements can email them to JDuPlessis@cutimes.com.