MADISON, Wis. — In the wake of bank merger and bailouts, credit unions may have opportunities to grow their membership but only if they follow through on promotion and forging local ties now.

That's according to CUNA Mutual Group's latest Credit Union Trends Report. Total CU membership reached 92.1 million in October, the data showed. The 92,000 member increase in October brought the year-to-date gain up to 2.8 million and the year-over-year increase to 2.9 million. The caveat is that the most recent membership data could experience some revisions later.

"While it would be nice to believe that American consumers are discovering [credit union] services at roughly three times the rate that they did over the past few years, the reality is that current data will likely be revised lower," according to the report.