American Heritage CU of Philadelphia Tops $4B in Assets

A Philadelphia credit union announced Tuesday that it surpassed $4 billion in assets in the first quarter, following 13 credit unions that passed that threshold in 2021.

American Heritage Credit Union had $3.96 billion in assets and 247,199 members as of Dec. 31, but its news release said it surpassed $4 billion in assets and had more than 250,000 members by March 31.

“In just over four years, American Heritage has doubled in asset size as families and businesses throughout the Delaware Valley continue to discover what makes American Heritage different from other financial institutions,” it said.

Assets grew 2.3% among all credit unions from Oct. 31, 2021 to Jan. 31, 2022. If that growth rate held for Dec. 31 to March 31, three other credit unions easily surpassed $4 billion by March 31: Truestone Financial Credit Union of Plymouth, Minn. ($3.98 billion in assets, 198,711 members), Jovia Financial Federal Credit Union of Westbury, N.Y. ($3.96 billion in assets, 206,572 members) and University Federal Credit Union of Austin, Texas ($3.95 billion in assets, 346,455 members).

American Heritage ranked 89th in assets among the nation’s 5,048 credit unions as of Dec. 31. Among other achievements, it was the ninth-largest seller of loan participations last year. It sold $401.5 million in loan participations in 2021, more than triple from the $123.3 million it sold in 2020.

American Heritage began in 1948 as Budd Workers Federal Credit Union. It now has more than 35 locations in southeast Pennsylvania and New Jersey’s Camden County.

“When we were founded, our goal then was to serve all our members in the Philadelphia area no matter who they are or where they live,” Bruce K. Foulke, president/CEO of American Heritage, said. “In our journey to $4 billion in assets, we have been blessed to serve a membership that truly represents the wonderful diversity of our community.”

Last year, 36 credit unions surpassed $1 billion in assets, 13 surpassed $4 billion and four surpassed $10 billion.

The 87 large credit unions as of Dec. 31, those with more than $4 billion in assets, had average asset growth of 13%. The 13 that climbed into that class had assets of $54.9 billion, up 13.8% and 3.5 million members, up 5%. They were:

1. Coastal Credit Union of Raleigh, N.C., had assets of $4.6 billion, up 16.9% and 300,211 members, up 8.2%.

2. SAFE Credit Union of Folsom, Calif., had assets of $4.5 billion, up 16.5% and 242,578 members, up 0.8%.

3. CommunityAmerica Credit Union of Kansas City, Mo., had assets of $4.4 billion, up 14.5% and 271,937 members, up 5%.

4. Keesler Federal Credit Union of Biloxi, Miss., had assets of $4.3 billion, up 16.2% and 287,691 members, up 6.9%.

5. California Credit Union of Glendale, Calif., had assets of $4.3 billion, up 12.5% and 164,962 members, up 0.5%.

6. Langley Federal Credit Union of Newport News, Va., had assets of $4.2 billion, up 15.1% and 321,042 members, up 12.8%.

7. Municipal Credit Union of New York had assets of $4.2 billion, up 8.9% and 586,597 members, down 0.7%.

8. Technology Credit Union of San Jose, Calif., had assets of $4.1 billion, up 11.7% and 155,807 members, up 11.9%.

9. Tower Federal Credit Union of Laurel, Md., had assets of $4.1 billion, up 9.6% and 203,562 members, up 3.5%.

10. Royal Credit Union of Eau Claire, Wis., had assets of $4 billion, up 16.8% and 251,235 members, up 6.7%.

11. Fairwinds Credit Union of Orlando, Fla., had assets of $4 billion, up 17% and 210,807 members, up 4.7%.

12. Navy Army Community Credit Union of Corpus Christi, Texas had assets of $4 billion, up 10.3% and 208,576 members, up 6.7%.

13. Genisys Credit Union of Auburn Hills, Mich., had assets of $4 billion, up 13.3% and 249,535 members, up 5.3%.

The four credit unions that exceeded $10 billion in assets last year were:

1. Lake Michigan Credit Union of Grand Rapids, Mich., had assets of $11.7 billion, up 26.4% and 431,725 members, up 8%.

2. San Diego County Credit Union of San Diego had assets of $10.8 billion, up 11.6% and 427,559 members, up 0.9%.

3. Alaska USA Federal Credit Union of Anchorage had assets of $10.7 billion, up 9.5% and 711,111 members, up 2%.

4. Security Service Federal Credit Union of San Antonio had assets of $10.5 billion, up 6.7% and 799,027 members, down 0.6%.