They have been aroundso long, it's easy to begin thinking of them as inert pieces ofplastic. Yet, credit and debit cards remain among the most dynamicproducts credit unions can offer, and they in fact represent anopportunity to serve members at the leading edge.

Consider the growth in credit card spending during 2014.According to the company's analysis of credit transactionsprocessed by CO-OP Financial Services, credit spend steadilyincreased throughout the year. In January 2014, the average spendper card was $363.08, and in January 2015 the average spend was upto $381.18, an increase of five% per card during comparableperiods.

This combines with the continued strong transaction volumes forcards. CO-OP's own analysis of debit and credit transactions itprocessed found the combined total holding strong, even growing,from about 120 million transactions per month in December2013/January 2014 to more than 140 million transactions in November2014.