Newsroom

NAFCU's latest CU Industry Trends report revealed that, while credit union share growth slowed through the middle of 2021, it remains elevated in the third quarter. Stronger consumer lending this quarter resulted in improved overall loan growth.

"Industry performance was solid in the third quarter," said NAFCU Chief Economist and Vice President of Research Curt Long, in response to the third quarter data. "Membership rose, loan growth improved, and share growth moderated. Net worth ratios improved for every asset class during the quarter."

Other key data from NAFCU's new trends report:

• net interest margin is beginning to stabilize, albeit at a historically low level;
• operating expense ratios sunk during the pandemic, but have since begun to stabilize due to stronger hiring;
• credit union loan growth far exceeds bank loan growth;
• credit unions' share of 1st mortgage loan originations has declined for five consecutive quarters; and
• with loan and share growth beginning to normalize, long-term investments dropped slightly in Q3.

State-level results of note include:

• Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Nebraska and Alaska had the highest overall loan growth;
• Nevada, Iowa, Idaho, Utah, Nebraska, Georgia, Montana, Illinois, and Wyoming had the highest membership growth; and
• Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Iowa, Texas, and Wisconsin had the highest ROA.

NAFCU’s CU Industry Trends is a quarterly report of the latest trends among credit unions and is sent to members only. It is designed to help credit unions identify patterns in industry performance, and to promote comparisons with their own institutions. The report delivers key trends based on NCUA data, both at the industry level and broken down by region, state, and asset class.

These reports, composed by NAFCU's award-winning research team, are useful tools for tracking credit unions' progress and comparing it against peer averages. Access more of NAFCU's research products here.