Credit unions increased their share of lending in March for credit cards and non-revolving loans, including automobiles, the Fed reported Monday.

The Fed's G-19 Consumer Lending Report showed credit unions made a strong gain in their share of consumer loans in March as their portfolios rose twice as fast as banks over the past year and continued to rise from February to March, when banks' portfolios shrank.

Consumer lending has become more important for lenders as real estate originations decline.

Credit unions made strong gains in their share of consumer loans in March as their portfolios rose twice as fast as banks over the past year and continued to rise from February to March, when bank portfolios shrank.

Credit unions held $432.4 billion in consumer debt on March 31, up 11.8% from a year earlier. Balances rose 1.4% from February to March, compared with a 0.2% drop a year earlier. Credit unions' share of total consumer credit was 11.3% in March, compared with 11.1% in February and 10.6% in March 2017.

Banks held $1.57 trillion in consumer debt on March 31, up 5.7% from a year earlier. The drop from February to March was 0.4%—matching the one-month decline from a year earlier.

All lenders held $1.1 trillion in car loans on March 31, up 3.8% from a year earlier.

The Fed reports motor vehicle loans every three months, but does not break that category down by type of lender. For credit unions, car loans as reported by CUNA Mutual Group have averaged 94% of the Fed's number for credit union's non-revolving loans over previous three months.

If that percentage held for March, credit union automobile loans stood at about $351.4 million on March 31, or 31.4% of the U.S. auto loan market. That's up from a 29% share a year earlier and a 30.5% share in December 2017.

Credit unions posting large increases in car loans included America First FCU, Riverdale, Utah ($10 billion in assets, 949,099 members), Randolph-Brooks FCU, San Antonio ($8.8 billion in assets, 747,638 members) and Suncoast CU, Tampa, Fla. ($9.1 billion in assets, 763,709 members). Call reports filed this month with the NCUA show:

America First FCU held $859 million in new car loans on March 31, up 24% from a year earlier, while used car loans grew 23.5% to $3.1 billion.
Suncoast CU's new car loans rose 23.2% to $1 billion, while used cars rose 32.7% to $2 billion.
Randolph-Brooks FCU's new car loans rose 20.5% to $1.1 billion, while used car loans rose 27.1% to $1.9 billion.

However, car lending shrank at Security Service FCU of San Antonio ($9.5 billion in assets, 765,305 members). Its new car loans fell 6% to $2.5 billion, while used car loans fell 4.2% to $2.6 billion.

Another component of non-revolving loans were the $1.5 trillion in public and private student loans held by all lenders on March 31, up 5.4% from a year earlier. The Fed also limits its report of total student loan balances to the ends of quarters.

NCUA's latest number for private student loans held by credit unions was $4.4 billion as of Dec. 31, more than double the balance five years earlier.

Among credit unions, recent expansions in private student lending by the nation's two largest credit unions continued be reflected in big portfolio gains by Navy Federal of Vienna, Va., and PenFed of Tysons, Va. ($23.4 billion in assets, 1.7 million members).

PenFed nearly tripled its private student loan portfolio. It held $130.8 million on March 31, up from $45.7 million a year earlier.

However, several other large holders of private student loans showed declines over the 12 months ending March 31. Student loans:

Fell 11% to $55.8 million at BECU, Seattle ($18.6 billion in assets, 1.1 million members).
Fell 2.2% to $46.4 million at Star One CU, Sunnyvale, Calif. ($9.1 billion in assets, 102,706 members).
Fell 5.2% to $49.2 million at Mountain America FCU, Salt Lake City ($7.5 billion in assets, 746,526 members).

Credit unions held $56.9 billion in credit card debt on March 31, up 8.6% from a year earlier. The balances fell 0.5% from February to March, compared with a 0.3% gain a year earlier. Nevertheless, credit unions' share of credit card debt was 5.8% in March, about the same as a month earlier and up from 5.6% in March 2017.

Some credit unions showed large gains well above average. Credit card balances in the 12 months ending March 31:

Rose 25.6% to $310.4 million at First Tech FCU, Mountain View, Calif. ($11.8 billion in assets, 517,268 members).
Rose 28.5% to $426.3 million at Randolph-Brooks FCU ($8.8 billion in assets, 747,638 members).
Rose 22.8% to $408.6 million at Mountain America FCU ($7.5 billion in assets, 746,526 members).

Instant Insights /

Fed Shows Credit Unions Still Lead in Consumer Loan Growth

Related Stories

Recommended For You