Tuesday, August 5, 2014

100 Million Members Do Not Equal 100 Million People

The credit union industry is trumpeting that credit union membership probably reached the 100 million milestone in June.

However, this 100 million member number should not be confused for 100 million people belonging to credit unions.

For example, if a person joins credit union A and credit union B, this person would be counted twice as a member.

In fact, a 2002 study by CUNA found that credit union members on average belonged to 1.2 credit unions and nearly 20 percent of credit union members belong to more than one credit union. [Don't criticize me for using a 2002 study. If you have more up-to-date numbers, please provide].

So, the evidence indicates that far fewer Americans belong to credit unions than the membership numbers indicate.

Posted by at
Labels:

3 comments:

  1. AnonymousAugust 5, 2014 at 11:11 AM

    I've been saying this for years, but the trade associations don't want to hear it. I belong to two credit unions. CUNA and NAFCU have no way of knowing that. Many of our members belong to multiple credit unions. Also, many credit unions do not have an accurate count of members because some of them open multiple accounts within the credit union, and the core processors don't consider those arrangements. My estimate is that there are closer to 30 million discrete individuals who are credit union members.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AnonymousAugust 5, 2014 at 9:52 PM

      Thats the same guess i have...30 million.
      And our guess is as good as cuna's FIB.
      No one believed cuna anymore, especially credit unions.
      NO ONE believes the 100 million so you can relax on this one Keith.

      Delete
  2. AnonymousAugust 14, 2014 at 4:06 PM

    Grasping.

    At.

    Straws.

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)
 

The content is provided for educational purposes only, with the understanding that neither the authors, contributors, nor the publishers of this site are engaged in rendering legal, accounting or other expert or professional services. If legal or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought.

Comments appearing in response to articles appearing on this site do not necessarily reflect the views of the ABA. ABA makes no representations regarding the truth or accuracy of commentary or opinions that may be posted in response to the articles that appear on this website.

The inclusion herein of any link to a website, either in the text of an article or in a comment, does not denote any approval, sponsorship, or endorsement by the ABA, and ABA is not responsible for the content or opinions expressed on those linked websites or related commentary. This content is not licensed to third parties sites and is not affiliated with any third party site. Any reference to the author or this content on any third party site on the Internet is not authorized by the ABA.

It is the policy of the American Bankers Association to comply fully with all antitrust laws. Certain discussions should be considered off-limits, including those that contain competitively sensitive data such as price and cost information, or statements that could be construed as reflecting an attempt or desire to control or influence a particular market or markets. Future pricing or other prospective competitive information should never be shared.