Compliance Blog

On December 14, 2021, NCUA released its Quarterly U.S. Map Review for the third quarter (“Review”). According to the press release:

“The NCUA’s Quarterly U.S. Map Review tracks performance indicators for federally insured credit unions in all 50 states and the District of Columbia and includes information on two important state-level economic indicators: the unemployment rate and home prices.” (Emphasis added).

Specifically, NCUA provides highlights on: median annual asset growth; median annual share and deposit growth; median annual membership growth; median annual loan growth; median total delinquency rate; median loan-to-share ration; median return on average assets; and share of federally insured credit unions with positive net income. Readers should note that the statistics discussed below and any reference to “year”  or "annual" is for the year ending in the third quarter of 2021 and not the 2021 calendar year.

Median annual asset growth

According to the Review, federally insured credit unions saw median asset growth of 10.4% for the year. Federally insured credit unions in D.C., Hawaii, and New Jersey all saw median asset growth of 8% or less. On the other end of the spectrum, federally insured credit unions in Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, South Dakota, Vermont, and Washington saw median asset growth of more than 14%.

Median annual share and deposit growth

Median share and deposit growth for the year was 11.5%. Federally insured credit unions in D.C. and New Jersey saw a median share and deposit growth of less than 8% for the year. Federally insured credit unions in Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Vermont, and Washington saw a median share and deposit growth of more than 14% for the year.

Median annual membership growth

Nationally, credit union membership declined by .4% at the median. Federally insured credit unions in Arkansas, Connecticut, D.C., Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Virginia saw a membership decline of -1% or less at the median. Federally insured credit unions in Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, South Dakota, Vermont, Washington, and Wyoming saw membership growth, at the median, of more than .5% for the year.

Median annual loan growth

Overall, median outstanding loans rose by 2.5% for the year. For the year, federally insured credit unions in Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia saw median loan growth of 0% or less. Federally insured credit unions in Arizona, Florida, Idaho, Missouri, Utah, Vermont, and Wyoming saw median loan growth of more than 6%.

Median total delinquency rate

The national median total delinquency rate for the year was 34 basis points. Delaware, Louisiana, Maryland, North Carolina, New Jersey, Virginia, and West Virginia all saw median delinquency rates of more than 50 basis points. Arizona, California, Minnesota, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Utah saw a median delinquency rate of 20 basis points or less.

Median loan-to-share ratio

The national median of total loans to total shares and deposits was 57% for the year. New Jersey saw the lowest loan-to-share ratio at 37%. Idaho, Utah, Vermont, Wisconsin, and Wyoming all saw loan-to-share ratios of more than 70%.

Median return on average assets

For the year, the national median return on average assets was 56 basis points. Alabama, Connecticut, D.C., Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nebraska, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and West Virginia all saw a median return on average assets of 40 basis points or less. Alaska, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, and Washington saw the highest median return on average assets of more than 70 basis points.

Share of credit unions with positive net income

Overall, 84 percent of all federally insured credit unions had positive net income for the year. D.C., Mississippi, Nebraska, and Ohio had the lowest share of federally insured credit unions with positive income at 70% or less. Vermont and Alaska had the highest share at 100%.

Conclusion

While this data can be helpful to credit unions for understanding where their credit union stands compared to their peers, both at a state and national level, credit unions should not put too much stock into whether they are ahead or behind the median on any one statistic. Rather, it may help a credit union identify problem areas that it may want to work on.

Furthermore, credit unions may want to note that there is some positive news from the Review showing some recovery from the pandemic. The national average return on assets increased by 14 basis points from 2020 to 2021, the national share of credit unions with positive net income increased by 2%, the national median total delinquency rate decreased by 13 basis points, and national loans outstanding grew by 2.5% versus a .6% decline in 2020.