NCUA: Credit Unions Experience Strong Start to 2018

Staff Report

Monday, June 11th, 2018

The United States’ credit unions started 2018 on a high note, according to data from the National Credit Union Administration.

Total assets in federally insured credit unions rose by $79 billion, or 5.9 percent, over the year ending in the first quarter of 2018. That puts total assets at $1.42 trillion.

Below are other prevalent facts from NCUA’s findings: 

  • Total assets in federally insured credit unions rose by $79 billion, or 5.9 percent, over the year ending in the first quarter of 2018, to $1.42 trillion.

  • Total loans outstanding increased $87 billion, or 9.9 percent, over the year to $971.9 billion. The average outstanding loan balance in the first quarter of 2018 was $15,039, up $541, or 3.7 percent, from one year earlier.

  • The delinquency rate at federally insured credit unions was 66 basis points in the first quarter of 2018, down slightly from one year earlier. The net charge-off ratio was 60 basis points, up from 58 basis points in the first quarter of 2017.

  • Insured shares and deposits rose $58 billion, or 5.5 percent, over the four quarters ending March 2018, to $1.13 trillion.

  • The loan-to-share ratio stood at 80.8 percent in the first quarter of 2018, up from 77.7 percent in the first quarter of 2017.

  • The credit union system’s net worth ratio was 10.88 percent in the first quarter of 2018, compared with 10.69 percent one year earlier.

  • Net income totaled $12.6 billion at an annual rate in the first quarter of 2018, up $3.3 billion, or 35.4 percent, from the same period a year ago.

  • The net interest margin for federally insured credit unions was $42.3 billion in the first quarter of 2018, or 3.0 percent of average assets, compared to $38.0 billion, or 2.9 percent of average assets, in the first quarter of 2017.

  • The return on average assets for federally insured credit unions was 90 basis points over the year ending in the first quarter of 2018, up from 71 basis points in the first quarter of 2017. The median return on average assets across all federally insured credit unions was 48 basis points, up 15 basis points from the first quarter of 2017.

  • The number of federally insured credit unions declined to 5,530 in the first quarter of 2018 from 5,737 in the first quarter of 2017. In the first quarter of 2018, there were 3,477 federal credit unions and 2,053 federally insured, state-chartered credit unions. The year-over-year decline is consistent with long-running industry consolidation trends.

  • The number of credit unions with a low-income designation rose to 2,544 in the first quarter of 2018 from 2,518 one year earlier.

  • Federally insured credit unions added 4.7 million members over the year, and credit union membership in these institutions reached 112.7 million in the first quarter of 2018.

For NCUA’s complete findings, click here.