With just under three months left in the year, credit unions may put the brakes on any aggressive expansion of select employee groups and fields of membership.
According to the October edition of CUNA Mutual Group's Credit Union Trends Report, "seasonal weakness" is expected in the last four months of the year. At the end of August, total membership was an estimated 92.4 million with a year-to-date gain at 1.6 million. Comparing the numbers, the average annual gain from 2004 to 2008 was just under 1.2 million, the data showed.
Still, given the strong downward pressures on return on assets, credit union expense resources for expanding membership are limited, according to the report. Looking long term, the credit union industry may average a net increase of less than one million members per year "with more focus placed on the depth of mutually beneficial relationships vs. sheer growth in numbers."
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