Credit unions accelerated consumer lending twice as fast as other financial institutions in April, primarily with the power of auto loans, the Federal Reserve reported Wednesday.

Total consumer credit stood at $3.8 trillion on April 30, up 5.9% from a year earlier, while credit unions held $398.2 billion, up 12.5%, according to the Fed's monthly consumer credit report. Credit unions' share of total consumer credit was 10.55% in April, its biggest share since January 2001.

Credit unions continued to broaden their share of lending for non-revolving loans, which for credit unions are primarily auto loans.

Credit unions held $345.8 billion in non-revolving loans in April, up 13.2% from a year earlier. Total non-revolving loans, student loans owned by the federal government accounting for about half the total, rose 5.9% to $2.8 trillion.

That meant credit unions held 12.31% of the non-revolving loans in April, their highest share since December 2009. It was up from an 11.51% share in April 2016 and 12.12% in March.

Banks' share of non-revolving loans was 24.5% in April, down 15 basis points from a year earlier, while the share held by finance companies fell to 21.42%, down from 23.16% a year earlier.

Credit unions made more modest gains with credit cards. Credit unions held $52.4 billion in credit card debt on April 30, up 8% from a year earlier. Total credit card debt stood at $965.3 billion, up 6% from a year earlier.

Credit unions held a 5.43% share of credit card debt in April, unchanged from March and up from 5.33% in April 2016. Banks' share was 83.48% in April, down from 83.80% in April 2016. Finance companies' share was 5.91% in April, up from 5.86% a year earlier.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, average annual increases for all lenders were 2.5% for all consumer credit 1.75% for revolving credit and 3% for non-revolving credit.

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Credit Unions Gain on Other Consumer Lenders

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