Credit Unions Lose Ground in Consumer Credit
Fed shows balances of credit card and term loans slipped from January to February.
Both credit unions and banks lost share of credit cards and consumer loans from January to February, according to a Fed report released Friday.
The Federal Reserve’s G-19 Consumer Credit Report showed total consumer credit fell by 0.2% from January to February for all lenders, while falling 0.5% at credit unions and banks.
The change over 12 months also showed credit unions falling behind the rest of the market, rising 2.4%, compared with 3.5% at banks and 2.6% overall.
Credit unions held $657.2 billion in consumer debt on Feb. 29, or 13.1% of the total, compared with 13.2% in both January 2024 and February 2023.
Banks held $2.07 trillion in consumer debt on Feb. 29, or a 41.3% share in February, compared with 41.4% in January and 40.9% in February 2023.
Credit unions saw declines in both credit card balances and consumer term loans, which include auto loans and personal loans.
Credit unions held $80.7 billion in credit card debt Feb. 29, up 8.1% from a year earlier. The balance fell 1.5% from January to February, compared with a 10-year average February drop of 0.9%. Credit unions’ share was 6.3% in February, unchanged from a year earlier and the previous month.
Banks held $1.2 trillion in credit card debt, up 9.9% from a year earlier. The balance fell 0.7% from January to February, compared with an average February drop of 1.7%. Banks’ share was 90.6% in February, unchanged from January and up from 90.2% in February 2023.
Credit unions held $576.5 billion in non-revolving consumer loans in February, up 1.6% from a year earlier. The balance fell 0.3% from January to February, compared with an average February gain of 0.4%.
Credit unions’ share of non-revolving loans was 15.5% in February, unchanged from January and up from 15.3% in February 2023.
Banks held $904 billion in consumer loans in February, down 3.6% from a year earlier. The balance fell 0.2% from January to February, compared with an average February gain of 0.1%.
Banks’ share of non-revolving loans was 24.3% in February, unchanged from January and down from 25.3% in February 2023.