Credit unions have generated a total of $10.7 billion in noninterest income as of the end of the third quarter in 2012 — the highest reported since 2009 and 18% more than the first nine months of 2011, according to Callahan & Associates.
Callahan also found a 30.3% increase in other operating income from year-to-date numbers in September 2011 to $4.9 billion. Credit unions’ other operating income grew from 39.8% in 2010 to 45.8% in third quarter 2012 as a percentage of noninterest income, and two states in particular demonstrated exceptional other operating income growth over the two-year period: Massachusetts, with 60.3%, and Missouri, with 41.3%.
“The fact that other operating income is primarily responsible for the overall increase in noninterest income reflects the cooperative spirit of the credit union industry,” said Jay Johnson, executive vice president for Callahan. “Instead of taking extreme cost-cutting measures, credit unions found other ways to return value to the member.”
Fee income, primarily derived from overdraft, ATM and credit card fees, rose from $5.1 billion last year to $5.5 billion this year at credit unions, Callahan added. However, as of September 2012, fee income for the average credit union member was at its second-lowest level in the past five years, the Washington-based research and analysis firm said.
