Credit Unions Make Slow Gains in Consumer Loans

Growth in consumer lending continued to slow for credit unions in November, but they maintained share as others fared worse.

Data from the Fed’s G-19 Consumer Credit Report released Monday showed credit unions held $82.6 billion in credit card debt Nov. 30, up 12.8% from a year earlier and the smallest 12-month gain since June 2022.

However, the balance rose 2.4% from October, which was better than the average 1.7% October-to-November gain measured from 2016 through 2022.

That left credit unions with 6.4% of the nation’s $1.3 trillion credit card balance in November, unchanged from October and up from 6.2% in November 2022.

Banks held $1.18 trillion in credit card debt, up 9.9% from a year earlier. The change was 3.4% from October, up from the average 2.5% monthly change. Banks’ share was 90.5% in November, up from 90.4% in October and 90.3% in November 2022.

Finance companies held $20.4 billion in credit card debt, down 7.8% from a year earlier. The balance fell 0.4% from October, compared with an average drop of 0.5%.

Credit unions actually gained a bit of share in the broad category of non-revolving debt. For banks and credit unions, most of those term loans are for cars, followed by personal loans.

The Fed reported that credit unions held $587.9 billion in non-revolving consumer loans in November, up 5.8% from a year earlier — the slowest increase since a 5.5% 12-month gain in December 2021. The change was 0.4% from October, matching the seven-year average.

Credit unions’ share of non-revolving loans was 15.9% in November, up from 15.8% in October and 15.1% in November 2022. However, credit unions’ share of the combined consumer credit market was unchanged from October to November.

The 12.8% credit card balance increase for all credit unions was stronger than the 8.9% 12-month gain for November reported last month by PSCU, the St. Petersburg, Fla., payments CUSO.

The CUSO’s credit card delinquency rate reached a high of 2.46% in November, up from 54 basis points from a year earlier and up 13 bps from October.

NCUA data released in December showed the delinquency rate for credit cards at all credit unions was 1.90% as of Sept. 30, up 60 basis points from 1.30% a year earlier.

Navy Federal Credit Union is the nation’s largest by assets and holds 35% of the movement’s credit card balances. Delinquency rates, excluding Navy Federal, were 1.44% on Sept. 30, up 44 bps from 1.01% a year earlier.

The 10 credit unions with the largest credit card balances held $38.5 billion on Sept. 30, up 16% from a year earlier. Their delinquency rate was 2.51%, up 80 bps from 1.71% a year earlier. They were:

1. Navy Federal Credit Union, Vienna, Va. ($168.4 billion in assets, 13.2 million members), which held $27.9 billion on Sept. 30, up 14.8% from a year earlier. Its delinquency rate was 2.73%, up 89 bps from 1.84% a year earlier.

2. Pentagon Federal Credit Union, Tysons, Va. ($35.4 billion in assets, 2.9 million members), which held $2.4 billion on Sept. 30, up 22.2% from a year earlier. Its delinquency rate was 2.92%, up 62 bps from 2.30% a year earlier.

3. BECU, Tukwila, Wash. ($29.2 billion in assets, 1.4 million members), which held $1.6 billion on Sept. 30, up 17.8% from a year earlier. Its delinquency rate was 0.41%, up 14 bps from 0.27% a year earlier.

4. SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union, Santa Ana, Calif. ($28.8 billion in assets, 1.3 million members), which held $1.2 billion on Sept. 30, up 21.8% from a year earlier. Its delinquency rate was 2.27%, up 89 bps from 1.38% a year earlier.

5. Suncoast Credit Union, Tampa, Fla. ($17.1 billion in assets, 1.2 million members), which held $1.1 billion on Sept. 30, up 26.4% from a year earlier. Its delinquency rate was 1.73%, up 94 bps from 0.79% a year earlier.

6. State Employees’ Credit Union, Raleigh, N.C. ($50.7 billion in assets, 2.8 million members), which held $1.1 billion on Sept. 30, up 13.4% from a year earlier. Its delinquency rate was 2.16%, up 16 bps from 2.00% a year earlier.

7. Mountain America Federal Credit Union, Salt Lake City ($18 billion in assets, 1.2 million members), which held $858.2 million on Sept. 30, up 30.7% from a year earlier. Its delinquency rate was 2.25%, up 94 bps from 1.31% a year earlier.

8. America First Federal Credit Union, Riverdale, Utah ($19.1 billion in assets, 1.4 million members), which held $853.6 million on Sept. 30, up 19.4% from a year earlier. Its delinquency rate was 1.01%, up 48 bps from 0.53% a year earlier.

9. Pennsylvania State Employees Credit Union, Harrisburg, Pa. ($8.1 billion in assets, 587,339 members), which held $838.5 million on Sept. 30, up 9.8% from a year earlier. Its delinquency rate was 1.71%, up 62 bps from 1.09% a year earlier.

10. Digital Federal Credit Union, Marlborough, Mass. ($12 billion in assets, 1.1 million members), which held $660 million on Sept. 30, up 7.3% from a year earlier. Its delinquency rate was 2.29%, up 49 bps from 1.80% a year earlier.