Members carrying higher balances with non-CU cards; debit cards popular among younger and affluent members

TAMPA, Fla. - Credit union members are plastic-packing consumers, but not they're not necessarily packing a high credit union credit card balance. According to a joint PSI Global/CUNA study titled "Credit Union Members Today and Tomorrow" 89% of credit union members have Visa/Master credit cards, compared to just 71% of non-members. Among cardholders, credit union members carry an average outstanding balance of $2,837, while non-members sport a much lower $1,884 balance. Although almost 90% of CU members have credit cards, only 37% having a Visa/Master Card at the credit union. More specifically, 34% of members report having a Visa credit union credit card and just 7% have a credit union MasterCard card Credit unions have ground to make up when it comes to getting credit union cards in the hands of members. Sixty-two percent of members said they have a Visa/MasterCard somewhere other than the credit union, and do not have any credit union plastic cards. That means credit unions only have about a 30% marketshare of their member households' plastic card accounts. Overall, including credit union and non-credit union cards, Visa is definitely the card of choice among members. Seventy-nine percent of members have a Visa card, and 49% a MasterCard card. One disturbing revelation of the study was that credit unions are not getting the bulk of primary (those who consider the CU as their PFI) members' credit card balances. Credit unions have only a 13% share of their primary members' Visa/MasterCard outstanding balances. But when considering that 41% of households of primary members have a credit union Visa/MasterCard, there's a large gap between outstanding balance and primary CU cardholders. Thus primary members are carrying higher balances on non-credit union Visa/MasterCard cards. The study found that debit cards are still a new animal to many members. Fifty-two percent of members reported having debit cards, compared to 42% of non-members. Younger members gravitate to debit cards. Sixty-eight percent of members between the ages of 25 and 34 reported having a debit card, while just 50% from the 55 to 64 age group; and 33% from the 65 and over segment. Debit card ownership is more common among higher income groups. Fifty-nine percent of members with income between $50,000-$75,000 have a debit card, compared to just 45% of those members making $20,000-$29,900 and 40% for those making between $10,000-$19,900. The study said that debit card penetration has been flat among all consumers since 1997, hovering just around 46% penetration. Reasons consumers cite for not using debit cards include the desire to have canceled checks for proof of payment; difficulty in tracking transactions; security concerns; fees being charged; and a preference for using cash. -pgentile@cutimes.com