CEFCU of Illinois Pays Members $55 Million as a Special Dividend

“The CEFCU Board of Directors is pleased to approve this year’s Extraordinary Dividend — a reflection of how CEFCU provides meaningful value to member/owners every day,” Board Chair, Joe Needham said.

The amount deposited to members’ savings accounts was divided between savers and borrowers, with a portion also being returned to debit card users.

CEFCU President/CEO Matt Mamer said credit unions exist for members, not for profit.

“That structure allows us to return profits to member/owners,” Mamer said.

CEFCU’s $55 million formed the majority of $88.8 million in special dividends paid in November and December by CU Times’ first group of five credit unions in its seasonal tally. The five credit unions with $20.7 billion in assets and 1.1 million members paid about $80 per member and 44 bps of their ROA of 1.04% for the 12 months ending Sept. 30.

The other four credit unions were:

• Educators Credit Union of Racine, Wis. ($3.7 billion in assets, 231,991 members), which paid members $5.3 million Dec. 1 as a Member Loyalty payout. The amount represents about $23 per member and 16 bps of its ROA of 1.07% for the 12 months ending Sept. 30.
• Robins Financial Credit Union of Warner Robins, Ga. ($4.7 billion in assets, 272,649 members), which paid members $20 million Dec. 9 as a Member Rebate. The amount represents about $74 per member and 45 bps of its ROA of 1.33% for the 12 months ending Sept. 30.
• Western Division Federal Credit Union of Williamsville, N.Y. ($216.2 million, 11,328 members), which paid members $1 million Nov. 26 as a Patronage Dividend. The amount represents about $93 per member and 50 bps of its ROA of 0.47% for the 12 months ending Sept. 30.
• CoVantage Credit Union of Antigo, Wis., 90 miles northwest of Green Bay ($4 billion, 180,821 members), which is paying members $7.5 million Dec. 31 as a patronage payment. The amount represents about $44 per member and 21 bps of its ROA of 0.63% for the 12 months ending Sept. 30.

A Dec. 10 news release from CoVantage said the special dividend is the largest in the credit union’s history. In the last five years, over $30 million has been returned to members specifically through patronage, including $6.5 million last year.

The CoVantage news release said patronage is a concept that originated many years ago as a way for cooperatives to give extra value to those who use their services. It said CoVantage is one of the few credit unions in the country that continues the practice, and this December’s payment is its 45th in row.

CoVantage Board Chair Mike Windberg said the credit union was able to choose to pay the record amount because of its record year for net income.

“Being part of a mission-driven credit union means value created here goes back to members,” Windberg said. “We set aside what is needed to protect CoVantage, fund operations, and pay regular dividends, and then we share some of the success of the cooperative with our member-owners.”

In the 2024-2025 season, CU Times tallied 50 credit unions ($128.4 billion, 6.7 million members), which announced $366.1 million in special dividends. The amount represented about $55 per member and 30 bps of their 12-month ROA of 0.94%.

Credit unions interested in sharing their special dividend announcements can email them to JDuPlessis@cutimes.com.