From the latest in fashion to back-packs and laptops, it's nosurprise that back-to-school shopping can be expensive, but creditunions around the country have caught on that this is the perfecttime to offer credit cards and signature loans to theirmembers.

Madeline Chase has two daughters- one is heading to middleschool and the other will be a freshman in high school- in CedarCity, Utah.

“There is a lot of pressure to have the right clothes and to fitin,” Chase said. “I took out a signature loan and it took some ofthe pressure off. Not all of it, because I have two daughters, butat least financially I feel better.”

Chase took out a signature loan with the $4.4 billion MountainAmerican Credit Union in Cedar City, Utah at 7.74%.

Of course Chase isn't the only one out shopping.The National Retail Federation has found that theback-to-school shopping is the second largest shopping event of theyear. They released their annual Back-to-School SpendingSurvey on Sept. 3, 2015 and a poll of over 6,500 consumers,conducted June 30 through July 8 showed that:

•$630.36: Average amount families withchildren grades K-12 plan to spend this year, down from $669.28last year.

•$68 billion: Projected totalspending for the back-to-school and college shopping season.

•42%: How much back-to-school spending hasincreased in the past decade.

Credit unions are noticing the loan growth opportunities withschool starting and offering more signature loan opportunities fortheir members:

Mission Federal Credit union in San Diego, with $2.7 billion inassets, is offering their 'Back to School Signature Loans,'starting at 7.99% APR and White Sands Credit Union, with $267million in assets located in Las Cruces, NM. is offering a line ofcredit starting at 9.65%

Credit card growth opportunities are also out there according toa study by Cardlytics, the company that pioneered the globalCard-Linked Marketing industry.

Consumer spend data from 125 major retailers shows that in 2014,Back to School spending during the six weeks from mid-July to lateAugust increased 3.04% year over year. Furthermore, this studyshows that there is more opportunity than ever for credit unions toincrease their bottom line and they should take special note ofsome key trends in Back to School consumer spending:

“What we've found is that Back to School drives more spendand more trips to more stores across several categories,” said DaniCushion, CMO of Cardlytics. “As a result, we recommend thatretailers across the board prepare for Back to School as a distinctshopping event in both their media and in-store efforts.”

In a statement, the $70 billion Navy Federal Credit union inVienna, Va. advises to “build a plan and a budget.” Calculate howmuch you can afford to spend on school-related expenses withoutblowing your overall budget or racking up debt. Make acomprehensive list of anticipated expenses for each child and buildin a cushion for unexpected costs. Scoring bargains won't help yourbottom line if you end up paying interest on unpaid balances.Examine previous years' bills and compare notes with otherparents.”

Going back to school is also a great time to teach your childabout financial responsibility.

I gave each of my girls $100 and told them to spend it wiselybecause that was all they were getting for clothes,” said VivianEast of Spokane, WA., who took out a loan for her familiesback-to-school shopping last month with the $1.4 billion NumericaCredit Union in Spokane. “Both of my kids took their time andchecked the prices without me having to do it for them. It was agreat learning experience and we had money left over to buy a newcomputer for the family.”