Two Carolina Credit Unions Pay $24 Million in Special Dividends

Two credit unions from the Carolinas paid members $24 million in special dividends this week.

Founders Federal Credit Union of Lancaster, S.C. ($4 billion in assets, 249,839 members as of Sept. 30) paid members $20 million Monday as a Super Loyalty Bonus Dividend. The amount represented about $80 per member and 54 basis points of its 1.70% return on average assets for the 12 months ending Sept. 30.

Founders President/CEO Bruce Brumfield highlighted the credit union’s successful 2022 as the reason this year’s bonus was considerably higher than in past years.

Brumfield said the credit union had budgeted for $42 million in net income for the year, but was coming in at an “extraordinarily high” $74 million. After the payout, net income was $54.3 million for the year.

“Founders appreciates our members in substantial ways that truly give back to them and help them achieve their financial goals,” Brumfield said.

Coastal Credit Union of Raleigh, N.C. ($4.7 billion in assets, 319,835 members) paid members $4 million Tuesday as a Loyalty Bonus dividend. The amount represented about $13 per member and 9 bps of its ROA of 0.47% for the 12 months ending Sept. 30.

Among the 79,000 members who qualified for the bonus, they received $5 to $300.

The total amount of the Loyalty Bonus dividend was based on Coastal’s overall performance in 2022. Individual shares are based on each member’s year-end loan balances and average deposits, as well as their length of membership. Over the past 12 years, Coastal has returned $33.2 million to members as special dividends.

“A fundamental part of being a locally-based cooperative and a good neighbor is, we aren’t paying dividends to Wall Street investors,” Coastal President/CEO Chuck Purvis said. “Instead, that money stays right here in our community, rewarding the members who choose to do business with us every day.”

“Member Giveback represents the real impact we have on the financial well-being of our members,” Purvis said. “It quantifies how we deliver on our mission of Bank Better to Live Better, and both Loyalty Bonus and Member Giveback exemplify Coastal’s core value of Share Generously and the cooperative principle of Members’ Economic Participation.”

Coastal’s Valentine’s Day announcement typically marks the end of the of the special dividends season that starts in October.

So far this season, CU Times has tallied $331.7 million in special dividends from 55 credit unions that comprised $148.1 billion in assets and 7.7 million members as of Sept. 30, or about 6% of the movement’s assets and members. The amount represented about $43 per member and 23 bps of their 12-month ROA of 0.91%.

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