President/CEO Matt Mamer, speaking in a video posted by CEFCU, said each year's special dividend is a board decision based on analysis from staff.

"When we have capital enough both to cover our expenses and cover the needs we foresee in the coming years, then we take a look at that," Mamer said. "The board feels strongly that the excess is our members' money. So we return that back to our members."

"Every year is different," he said. "We face new challenges every year, so the extraordinary dividend is not guaranteed. But we've been fortunate that we've been pretty consistent over the past several years."

The payouts by CEFCU and three other credit unions represent about $65 for each of their 635,333 members and 37 bps of its ROA of 1.00% for the 12 months ending Sept. 30. The other credit unions were:

• Western Division Federal Credit Union, Williamsville, N.Y. ($181.7 million in assets, 9,014 members), which paid members $716,000 in November as a Patronage Dividend. The amount represented about $79 per member and 40 bps of its ROA of 0.51% for the 12 months ending Sept. 30. The credit union said the special dividend ranged from $7.16 to $716 based on participation.
• Educators Credit Union, Racine, Wis. ($3.1 billion in assets, 222,599 members), which paid members $5.1 million Dec. 1 as a 2022 Member Loyalty payout. The amount represented about $23 per member and 17 bps of its ROA of 1.12% for the 12 months ending Sept. 30.
• Coosa Pines Federal Credit Union, Childersburg, Ala. ($336 million in assets, 24,333 members), which paid members $500,000 in November as a bonus dividend and loan interest refund. The amount represented about $21 per member and 15 bps of its ROA of 1.35% for the 12 months ending Sept. 30.

This is the eighth consecutive year that Coosa Pines members have received a bonus and refund, for a total of more than $2.7 million.

Don Carden, president/CEO of the Birmingham-area credit union, said its board of directors chose to issue the bonus and refund based on the success of the credit union in 2022. Its ROA for the 12 months ending in September was 31 bps higher than its ROA of 1.04% a year earlier.

"This year has been one of the most successful for Coosa Pines, and the outlook for next year is positive," Carden said. "While the purpose of a bank is to make money for its shareholders, as members of a financial cooperative we all share in the success of our credit union."

Coosa Pines' dividend bonus was figured using 7.25% of dividends earned on the member's share savings account from Jan. 1 to Sept. 30, 2022. The loan interest refund amount was determined by 7.25% of the loan interest paid for the same period.

So far this season, seven credit unions ($25 billion, 1.3 million members) have announced $65 million in special dividends. The amount represented about $51 per member and 27 bps of their 12-month ROA of 1.10%.

Credit unions interested in sharing their special dividend announcements can email them to [email protected].