At the end of the third quarter, 156 credit unions with assets over $1 billion held 34% of all of the movement's membership, according to industry data.
Membership numbers continued to rise bringing the total to 92.9 million at the end of October, the most current period tracked, the CUNA Mutual Group's December Credit Union Trends Report showed. The ten largest CUs accounted for 28% of the gain. In his discussions with leaders of large CUs nationwide, the strong growth may be attributable to dissatisfaction with big banks, according to CUNA Mutual Chief Economist Dave Colby.
Still, not all CUs added to their membership base in 2009. A year-over-year comparison of NCUA call report data showed 3,940 CUs reported membership declines.
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Colby said in spite of announcements of NCUA assisted mergers, the pace of industry consolidation remained well below trend. The year-to-date decline of 199 CUs is 21% or 54 CUs below the four-year average rate of consolidation, according to the trends report. At the end of October, CUNA estimates showed 7,889 CUs. On a year-over-year basis, this represented the loss of 270 CUs, including nine during October. Looking back over the past five years, an average of more than 30% of all CU industry consolidation occurred in the fourth quarter.
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