NCUA: More People Joining Credit Unions, But CU Numbers Dropping

The NCUA's third quarter data summary showed an increase in both membership and total assets, but fewer credit unions overall. Learn more.

David Baumann

Published 

Dec 12

 

2022

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David Baumann

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David Baumann

A squiggly pink arrow pointing downward and to the right.

Agency’s quarterly data summary shows increase in both members and total assets, fewer credit unions overall.

People are still joining credit unions.

That’s one of the main takeaways from the NCUA’s Quarterly Credit Union Data Summary for the third quarter of 2022, issued by the agency last week.

Between the third quarter of 2021 and third quarter of 2022, federally insured credit unions added 5.7 million members, with overall membership reaching 134.3 million.

At the same time, the overall number of federally insured credit unions fell by 177, from 4,990 in the third quarter of 2021 to 4,813 in the third quarter of 2022, numbers the NCUA says are “consistent with long-running industry consolidation trends.”

The agency additionally revealed that the number of credit unions with a low-income designation dropped from 2,643 a year ago to 2,621 in the third quarter of 2022.

Loans and Assets

The NCUA reported that total loans outstanding in FCUs increased by $235 billion, or 19.2%, across the past year. Together, those loans totaled $1.46 trillion.

During the same time period, total assets rose by $132 billion, or 6.6%, to $2.15 trillion. Insured shares and deposits meanwhile increased by $89 billion, or 5.6%, to $1.69 trillion in total.

“Federally insured credit unions continue to perform well overall, and that’s good news,” NCUA Chairman Todd M. Harper said. “However, with ongoing inflationary pressures and rising interest rates, a credit union’s ability to manage its interest rate and liquidity risk exposures will remain a crucial factor in its performance for the remainder of the year and into 2023.”

Additional Findings

The NCUA further reported that:

  • The number of federally insured credit unions with assets of at least $1 billion increased from 395 in the third quarter of last year to 414 in the third quarter of 2022. Overall, these credit unions held 75% of total system assets and reported loan growth of 22.6% over the year. Their membership also rose by 8.1%, with net worth increasing by 12.8%.
  • The number of federally insured credit unions with assets of between $100 million and $500 million declined very slightly over the past year, falling from 1,083 in the third quarter of 2021 to 1,076 during the third quarter of 2022.
  • The delinquency rate at federally insured credit unions was 53 basis points in the third quarter of 2022, up 7 points compared with the third quarter of 2021.

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