How do credit unions stack up in a pack filled with heavy-hitting banks and aggressive online lenders?
Do credit scores, debt levels and utilization rates look different between credit union members and non-credit union members?
Where is the greatest concentration of credit unions in the country?
Experian took a deep dive into the data and performance surrounding the credit union universe in their first-ever “State of Credit Unions” report, featuring insights utilizing data from both 2015 and 2017.
What did the analysis reveal?
“In general, we saw credit unions continuing to increase their auto lending market share, but we also saw them growing their member relationships and increasing market share in mortgage, personal loan and bankcard,” said Michelle Cocchiarella, the Experian analyst who pulled the data.
A few of the key data points include:
- Credit union auto originations increased from 1.54M new accounts in Q1 2015 to 1.93M in Q1 2017 – a 25% increase. And not only did originations rise dramatically in this space, but credit unions topped banks, captives and other finance sources. Credit union auto market share rose 5% between Q1 2015 and Q1 2017, while bank market share declined by 4%.
- Credit unions also saw growth in the personal loan arena, with market share rising 2% between Q1 2015 and Q1 2017. Still, with the rise of online lenders, that sector saw a 7% increase during the same period. Banks declined by 5%.
- While most bankcards are opened with banks, credit unions did experience an 18% increase in bankcard originations from Q1 2015 to Q1 2017. Market share rose 1% between Q1 2015 and Q1 2017 for credit unions in the bankcard space. Banks reign with market share at 96%.
- Credit union mortgage market share rose 7% between Q1 2015 and Q1 2017. Banks declined by 4%.
“Collectively, the credit union space is enjoying remarkable membership and loan growth,” said Scott Butterfield, principal of Your Credit Union Partner, a consulting agency to credit union leaders. “However, this bountiful experience is not enjoyed at all credit unions. The financial services environment has never been more competitive. The best credit unions are relentless at investigating a better way to find and serve more members, and as such, are seeing great growth.”
For the complete results, including insights on how credit union members with at least one trade compare to non-credit union members, access the report on our credit union insights page.
