Credit Union Newsletter - #26
Anurag Mukherjee
Credit Union & Community Bank C-Suite Advisor | World #1 Podcast for Women of Community Banking
Michigan credit union is planning to complete its fourth bank acquisition during the third quarter pending approvals by regulators and shareholders.
The board of directors for the $2.9 billion Advia Credit Union in Kalamazoo announced last week the signing of a definitive agreement to acquire the $267 million Northside Community Bank in Gurnee, Ill., which will expand the credit union’s market presence in that state.
Founded in 1997, NorthSide Community Bank ’s 31 employees operate four locations and manage $207 million in deposits, $197 million in loans and $50.9 million in capital, according to the bank’s third quarter FDIC Call Report. The bank posted an income of $1.4 million at the end of the third quarter.
Despite an overall slowdown in financial crime in 2023, credit unions had a tough year when it comes to fraud losses, according to a new report from an identity risk solutions company.
State of Fraud Benchmark Report, released Thursday by the New York, N.Y.-based Alloy, revealed 79% of credit union and community bank decision-makers surveyed experienced more than $500,000 in direct fraud losses in 2023 – higher than any other segment included in the survey. That compared to 65% of mid-market banks, 63% of enterprise fintech’s, 62% of enterprise banks, 57% of online/pure play lending banks, 32% of both regional banks and mid-market fintech’s, and 28% of strategic fintech’s whose decision-makers reported fraud losses of $500,000 or more last year.
Corporate America Credit Union of Birmingham, Ala., distributed the equivalent of $9.7 million to members last year as free services and capital dividends — its largest in five years.
The distribution represented 0.33% of average assets for the 12 months ending Nov. 30, or an average of $18,601 for each of its 524 credit union members.
The amount is the corporate credit union’s largest distribution to date and consisted of $1.8 million in free services and $7.9 million in capital dividends.
The Mortgage Bankers Association said it expects the 2024 rebound in commercial lending it has been predicting for months will continue into 2025.
The MBA on Tuesday offered its first 2025 forecast for origination of loans backed by commercial real estate, predicting production will rise 25% to $717 billion in 2025.
The portion backed by multi-family real estate is expected to rise 19% to $404 billion in 2025, while loans backed by other types of real estate are expected to rise 32% to $313 billion.
The MBA raised its 2024 forecast for commercial real estate production 3% overall, after lowering it several times since it put the number at $906 billion in its Feb. 13, 2023 forecast. The MBA also lowered its multi-family estimate for 2023 by 5%.
Recommended by LinkedIn
Credit union members continued holding back on credit card spending during the holidays through the nation’s largest payments CUSO, while increasing their purchases by debit card.
Neither measure surpassed the nation’s inflation rate.PSCU of St. Petersburg, Fla., reported the credit card delinquency rate among affiliated members surpassed 2.5%, up from a high of 2.46% in November and up by 55 basis points from a year earlier — its largest 12-month increase in 2023.
PSCU’s Payments Index report released Jan. 17 showed its average credit card balance reached a five-year high of $3,095 in December, surpassing the pre-pandemic 2019 average for the third consecutive month. The November balance rose by $178, or 6.1%, from a year earlier, and rose $39, or 1.3%, from November.
PSCU’s total credit card balances grew 8% year over year in December 2023 and 1.4% from November.
A credit union member in Dallas, Texas became about $50,000 richer thanks to her good savings habits and a stroke of luck.
Neighborhood Credit Union ($1 billion, Dallas) awarded Karyn Marshall, a 15-year member and holder of the credit union’s Prize Savings Account, with a check for $49,999 last week. She was notified that her name had been selected in a random drawing of Prize Savings Account holders during a video call
Neighborhood established the Prize Savings Account in 2007 as an incentive for more members to save. All Prize Savings Account holders receive one drawing entry for every $25 monthly average balance in their Prize Savings Accounts – the greater the savings, the more chances a member has of winning. Members are eligible for weekly drawings that culminate in the annual grand prize, drawn each January based on their average monthly balance in the savings account at close of business Dec. 31
Mortgage Bankers Association economists have become more sour on originations in the first half of 2024, and more optimistic about the second half and the economy as a whole.
The MBA’s Jan. 19 forecast showed little change overall for 2024, when it still expects total first-mortgage originations to rise 22% from the dismal lows of 2023.
The Jan. 19 forecast lowered total originations in the first half by 5% compared with the previous Dec. 10 forecast but raised originations by 5% for the second half.
With those changes, the MBA now expects purchase originations of $693 billion in the first half of this year, up 8.6% from the first half of 2023. The MBA expects second half purchase originations to rise 23% to $843 billion.
Source : Credit Union Times