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Led by strong lending, particularly mortgage originations and auto loans, the recently-released third quarter statistics for Maine’s credit unions continued to reflect steady growth in most key performance categories. “Maine credit unions remain not only well-positioned but poised to continue to grow in the future, especially in usage and popularity. As not-for-profit, financial cooperatives, more consumers are turning to Maine’s credit unions for their financial services and we don’t see that trend slowing, which is good news for the system,” explained Todd Mason, President of the Maine Credit Union League.
In the statistics released by the League, assets surpassed $7.5 billion for the first time, an increase of more than $200 million in the first nine months of the year; loans were up a healthy 4.4% for the quarter rising to $5.46 billion, a year-over-year increase of nearly $350 million; shares increased to $6.4 billion, growth of more than $185 million from year-end; and membership now stands at 685,890 members. Mason noted that the membership total was adjusted to reflect the merger of Ocean Communities FCU with Northeast CU, which is based in New Hampshire and, therefore, does not count in Maine membership totals.
Of specific note in the stats were the year-over-year growth of 3.2% in total loan originations, fueled by strong first mortage and other real estate growth, as well as the continued steady growth in the average member relationship. In the third quarter, the average member relationship grew by nearly 3.0%. Mason said the strong “statewide awareness program, media outreach and presence, and the increased marketing efforts of individual credit unions all contributed to existing credit union members utilizing more products and services. As we look to 2018, we remain committed to growing not only overall membership but the usage of credit unions by existing members.”