A Direct Line Blog

It’s that time of year for updates on the state of the union, state of the state, state of the city … so what is the current status of credit unions in Big Sky Country? Credit unions continue doing well financially across the country. Loan growth has upward momentum, membership growth has been strong, and net worth keeps improving.

That is great news for your credit union, especially since most of you participate in the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund (NCUSIF) and want it to be as healthy as possible. This week, we take a look at the trends in Montana credit unions for growth, based on NCUA Call Report data from September 30, 2019.

Here are a few trends of interest for Montana:

• Our 47 credit unions held almost $5.4B in assets and $3.41B in total loans.
• Asset growth was 4%, compared to 6.8% nationally.
• With only a 2.3% increase, our membership rate of growth has increased over prior years, but at a slower rate than asset and loan growth. With more than 400,000 total memberships, Montana ranks high in the rate of members to potential members (12% compared to 3% for the U.S.).
• Loan growth came in at a strong 6.5% in our state, with much of that growth in new autos, HELOCs/second mortgages, and first mortgages. Used auto, credit cards, and commercial loans had lower rates but still showed positive growth over the previous year.
• Net worth/assets are a strong 12.2% for our state. Not only is that higher than the national 11.4% average, but over 95% of Montana credit unions also have a net worth greater than 7%, making them well-capitalized.
• 91.5% of Montana credit unions have a positive ROA; an increase from 82.4% two years ago.
• Bankruptcies per credit union were much lower in Montana, with a rate of 8.6, compared to the national rate of 36.9, but the rate has also increased from recent years.
• While our Loans/Savings (73.7%) and Loans/Assets (63.8%) ratios lag behind the national levels (84.6% and 71.1% respectively), both continue trending upward.

You are doing a great job promoting positive growth trends in the state’s credit unions from your director’s seat. We are thankful for your vigilance and know it can be challenging with some of the local markets you are competing in. Keep us in mind here at MCU if you are looking for resources or information for your next board meeting.