Credit unions continued to increase their credit card portfolios in January faster than banks – but not by much.
And within credit unions, card balances are lagging overall portfolio growth.
The Federal Reserve's G-19 Consumer Credit Report released Friday showed credit unions held $88.6 billion in credit card debt on Jan. 31, up 2.5% from a year earlier. The increase was 0.4% from December to January, compared with an average December-to-January decline of 0.8% as consumers start to pay down holiday debt.
Credit unions' share was 6.8% in January, compared with 6.7% in December and 6.8% in January 2025.
Banks held $1.2 trillion in credit card debt, up 2.1% from a year earlier and down 2.4% from December, matching their 10-year average December-to-January decline. Banks' share was 91.9% in January, up from 92.1% in December and 91.8% in January 2025.
Finance companies held $16.2 billion in credit card debt, down 8.8% from a year earlier and down 0.5% from December, compared with the 10-year average drop of 2.1%.
Credit unions also increased their portfolios faster than banks in January for non-revolving consumer loans, which include auto loans, boat loans and personal loans.
Credit unions held $633.8 billion in non-revolving consumer loans in January, up 12.3% from a year earlier. The gain was 0.2% from December to January, slower than the 10-year average December-to-January gain of 0.5%.
Banks held $843.1 billion in non-revolving consumer loans in January, up 2.9% from a year earlier. The gain was 0.5% from December to January, slightly better than the 10-year average gain of 0.4%.
Credit card growth at credit unions has exceeded banks' in nine of the past 12 years.
However, credit unions' credit card growth has been slower than total loan growth at credit unions in eight of the past 12 years.
Last year fit the longer-term pattern with loan growth for the 12 months ending Dec. 31 being 4.6% for total loans compared with 2.5% for credit cards.
The previous two years were among the exceptions. In 2024, total loan growth was 2.6%, the lowest growth since at least 2014, while credit card growth was 3.8%. In 2023, total loans grew 6.4% and credit cards grew 10.4%.
Contact Jim DuPlessis at Jim.DuPlessis@arc-network.com.
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