According to a new survey from TransUnion, credit unionexecutives believe auto loans will be their biggest opportunity togrow their loan portfolios this year.

TransUnion said it administered the survey to 104 credit unionexecutives at CUNA's Governmental Affairs Conference held inWashington in late February.

More than half of the respondents said auto loans have thegreatest potential for loan growth.

“Many credit unions are finding that auto loans provide a great revenue opportunity as delinquenciescontinue to stay near historic lows,” said David Dodson,credit union vice president in TransUnion's financial servicesbusiness unit.

Credit union respondents said their biggest challenges tomeeting loan growth goals were competition from large banks andcaptives (40%), regulation (27%) and the lack of prospects(17%).

Meanwhile, in a sign that the housing market may be improving,the survey found that some credit union executives believe theirbest opportunities for loan growth are with mortgage (18%) and smallbusiness (13%) loans.

“Loan growth is traditionally the biggest concern for creditunions, but it is interesting to see regulatory scrutiny andoperational efficiencies called out as critical issues by somecredit unions,” Dodson said.

While the far majority of credit union respondents (68%) saidloan growth was the biggest critical issue they were facing thisyear, 11% noted that regulation was their main concern, accordingto the TransUnion survey. Technology/operation efficiencies (7%)and membership growth (6%) were also cited as major issues for2013.

“Credit unions realize that to effectively compete and grow intoday's market, technology and analytics must be leveraged to helpin acquisition efforts and to know how to best maximize members'wallets at the right time in the customer lifecycle,” Dodsonsaid.