The past year presented opportunities as well as challenges in credit card lending. Abuses by the largest issuers provided an opening for credit unions to highlight their consumer-friendly card offerings. Changes to regulation, however, required credit unions to implement diligent compliance efforts, even if they never engaged in the practices the legislation was intended to stop.
At a time when interest rates are at historical lows, banks increased their average credit card rate over the past year from 13.1% to 14.7%, the highest in nine years. Credit unions lowered their average rate by 10 basis points to 10.9% over the same period.
The 10 credit unions below capitalized on the opportunities presented. The leader from this year’s 2011 Credit Union Directory, OnPoint Community, grew its portfolio at almost twice the rate of the leader from the previous year. Coming in at No. 3 is Piedmont Advantage in Winston-Salem, NC, which we profiled on CreditUnions.com in the spring of 2010 for its balance transfer promotions.
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Leaders In 12-Month Credit Card Loan Growth |
|
Data as of June 30, 2010 | Credit Unions $20M+ in Assets & Total CC Loan Balances $3M+ One Year Ago | Excluding Significant Mergers |
|
1
|
ONPOINT COMMUNITY
|
OR
|
120.91%
|
2.44%
|
$49,964,442
|
$22,617,857
|
$2,865,890,690
|
|
2
|
COMMUNICATION
|
OK
|
87.26%
|
2.76%
|
$7,122,870
|
$3,803,722
|
$756,523,799
|
|
3
|
PIEDMONT ADVANTAGE
|
NC
|
80.76%
|
12.19%
|
$17,215,717
|
$9,523,949
|
$225,056,707
|
|
4
|
PROVIDENCE HEALTH SYSTEM
|
OR
|
62.59%
|
9.09%
|
$4,952,271
|
$3,045,921
|
$98,102,413
|
|
5
|
MID OREGON
|
OR
|
62.45%
|
6.33%
|
$6,174,581
|
$3,800,926
|
$138,118,781
|
|
6
|
MOBILOIL
|
TX
|
52.64%
|
6.72%
|
$15,241,068
|
$9,985,072
|
$357,184,447
|
|
7
|
SOUTH JERSEY
|
NJ
|
52.03%
|
12.38%
|
$14,900,127
|
$9,800,901
|
$276,106,205
|
|
8
|
PREMIER
|
NC
|
50.40%
|
7.12%
|
$5,383,918
|
$3,579,655
|
$116,190,415
|
|
9
|
KEMBA FINANCIAL
|
OH
|
49.74%
|
10.62%
|
$41,138,102
|
$27,472,969
|
$581,711,475
|
|
10
|
SIOUX FALLS
|
SD
|
45.51%
|
9.83%
|
$10,291,335
|
$7,072,553
|
$147,946,143
|
|
Source: Callahan's 2011 Credit Union Directory |