Credit union car loan growth remained near post-recession peaks in the third quarter, while other lenders slowed, according to reports from the Federal Reserve and NCUA.

The Federal Reserve System's Consumer Credit Report released Tuesday showed credit unions continued to gain a bigger share of consumer debt from banks in September with higher growth rates for car loans and credit cards.

The Fed's G.19 report showed U.S. lenders held $1.1 trillion in motor vehicle loans on Sept. 30, up 4.7% from a year earlier and 1.8% from June 30.

The increase in U.S. car loan balances from June 30 to Sept. 30 was the slowest for the third quarter since 2011. Growth in the third quarter hit a post-recession peak of 3.2% in 2015, and was 2.6% last year.

The report doesn't provide a breakdown of car loans by lender type, but it does for the broader category of non-revolving consumer loans. Car loans make up 40% of non-revolving loans among all lenders, but more than 90% among credit unions.

Credit unions held $361.7 billion in non-revolving debt on Sept. 30, up 12.7% from a year earlier and up 3.1% from June 30.

That pattern is consistent with the most recent report from CUNA Mutual Group, which showed credit unions held $332 billion in total car loans Aug. 31, up 13.7% from a year earlier and accounting for 93% of credit union's non-revolving debt.

Moreover, newly filed NCUA third-quarter call reports showed loans rose 14.1% to $44.7 billion from a year ago among the 10 largest credit union automotive lenders. New car loans rose 13.1% to $19.5 billion, while used car loans rose 14.9% to $25.2 billion.

Student loans, which like auto loans are also included in the Fed report in the quarter-ending months, were nearly $1.5 trillion on Sept. 30, up 6.3% from a year ago, and accounting for 53% of U.S. non-revolving loans.

Credit unions also had stronger credit card growth, shown both by the Fed report and NCUA reports for the top 10 credit card lenders.

The NCUA third-quarter reports show the 10 credit unions with the highest balances had $20.7 billion in credit card debt on Sept. 30, up 15.3% from a year earlier.

The Fed report shows lenders of all types held $972 billion in credit card debt Sept. 30, up 5.8% from a year earlier.

All credit unions held $55.3 billion in credit card debt on Sept. 30, up 8.3% from a year earlier. Credit unions' share was 5.69% in September, compared with 5.68% in August and 5.56% in September 2016.

Banks held $838.2 billion in credit card debt in September, up 5.2% from a year earlier. Their share was 86.23% in September, compared with 86.18% in August and 86.73% in September 2016.

Total consumer credit stood at $3.8 trillion on Sept. 30, up 5.6% from a year earlier.

Banks held $1.5 trillion in consumer debt on 2017-09, up 4.6% from a year earlier. Credit unions held $417 billion in consumer debt on 2017-09, up 12.1% from a year earlier.

Instant Insights /

Credit Unions Continue to Outpace Banks With Cars & Cards

Related Stories

Recommended For You