A recent blog post from Filene Research Institute and Vertice AI highlighted research that found gambling activity among credit union members is concentrated among younger generations and a relatively small group of heavy bettors.
The findings were based on a Vertice AI report that analyzed transaction data from 31 credit unions representing 1.76 million members.
Researchers focused on approximately 910,000 checking account holders living in states where gambling is legal and found that 8.6% showed gambling activity during the previous 12 months.
According to the research, Gen Z and millennial members accounted for about two-thirds of bettors, even though they represented only 44% of the members included in the analysis.
"Betting skews young," Filene and Vertice AI wrote in the blog post. "The younger members are the ones moving money to online gambling and prediction markets, and they are doing it at significant scale."
The research also found gambling activity was concentrated among a relatively small segment of members. The heaviest 4% of bettors accounted for roughly half of all dollars wagered, according to the report.
Researchers also found differences in deposit balances among members with varying levels of betting activity. The heaviest bettors held median deposit balances 56% lower than casual bettors.
"As gambling activity rises, deposit balances fall," the report stated. "The most active bettors hold roughly half the median balance of casual ones."
The findings came as sports betting continues to grow across the country. Filene and Vertice AI cited data from the American Gaming Association that showed Americans wagered $166.94 billion through legal sportsbooks in 2025, an 11% increase from the previous year.
The organizations said prediction markets represent a small share of overall betting activity but are growing rapidly. According to the report, transaction volume associated with prediction-market platforms increased 14-fold during the second half of the year.
The research also found that gambling activity tends to follow the sports calendar. December accounted for 14% of annual gambling activity identified in the data, while September and December together represented 26% of activity during the year analyzed.
The blog's authors said the findings could help credit unions identify members who may benefit from financial wellness resources.
"These are exactly the members credit unions need to grow and keep," they wrote. "They are also the members who stand to benefit the most from the kind of guidance and support credit unions are uniquely built to provide."
Joyce Moed can be reached at joyce.moed@arc-network.com.
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