Jim DuPlessis

Columbia

Communications Consultant and Web Content Producer at Freelance

Contributor at Credit Union Times

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Articles

Credit Unions See Big Drop in Branch Numbers

1 week ago | cutimes.com | Jim DuPlessis

Credit unions closed a net 32 branches and other locations in the first quarter, the biggest drop in more than four years and putting the movement’s branch count once again below its pre-pandemic level. A CU Times analysis of NCUA data shows there were 21,984 branches, headquarters other locations on March 31, including 50 overseas, representing a loss of 32 U.S. locations during the first quarter.
Credit Unions Gain Auto Loan Share

1 week ago | cutimes.com | Jim DuPlessis

Credit unions’ biggest gain was in new car loans. The originated 15.3% of the number of loans originated in the first quarter, the most since the fourth quarter of 2023, when they had a 16.3% share. Credit unions’ share had been in a range of about 17% to 22% in the two years before the pandemic. It then peaked at nearly 30% in 2022’s third quarter before falling to a low of 13.0% in last year’s fourth quarter.
FCCU of Houston Sells $255 Million in Securities

3 weeks ago | cutimes.com | Jim DuPlessis

First Community Credit Union of Houston sold $255.1 million in auto loan securities last week, marking the first securitization deal among credit unions so far this year. Like the first one, the sale will help lower its unusually high loan-to-savings ratio. All the loans in the issue that closed May 29 were indirect and 55% were for used cars. All went to borrowers with credit scores of at least 680 and the pool had a weighted average score of 767.
Credit Unions Added Jobs in First Quarter: Analysis Shows

1 month ago | cutimes.com | Jim DuPlessis

That mix includes 1,148 credit unions that lost employees in the first quarter. Those credit unions accounted for $736.2 billion or just 31% of the movement’s total assets. They collectively had 112,570 FTEs on March 31, down 3,013 (-2.6%) from three months earlier and down 2,261 (-2%) from a year earlier. As a percentage of its workforce, the quarter’s biggest job cuts came from Corporate America Family Credit Union (CAFCU) of Elgin, Ill. ($836.5 million in assets, 64,546 members).
Credit Unions Outproduce Other Commercial Real Estate Lenders

1 month ago | cutimes.com | Jim DuPlessis

Credit unions outperformed other lenders in originating commercial real estate loans in the first quarter, but business was unusually brisk for both groups. Credit unions’ first-quarter performance follows a year when other lenders increased their commercial loans backed by real estate at a much faster rate.
Ohio’s Fremont FCU Opens First Branch Since 2018

1 month ago | cutimes.com | Jim DuPlessis

The Bowling Green branch is part of an expansion of its field of membership in northwest Ohio. People attending the May 5 grand opening for Fremont FCU’s new branch in Bowling Green, Ohio. Ohio’s Fremont Federal Credit Union opened its first new branch in seven years this month in Bowling Green, Ohio, 30 miles west of Fremont and 22 miles south of Toledo. The branch at 1200 N. Main Street is Fremont’s seventh branch and its first in Wood County.
Growth & Pain: Credit Card Trends for Credit Unions

1 month ago | cutimes.com | Jim DuPlessis |Natasha Chilingerian

That also means that declines or stagnation in aggregate balances will tend to push delinquency and charge-off rates higher. And then there is the special hinkiness of consumers who might (or might not) be spooked by the threat of further inflation from tariffs and higher expectations of a recession. The New York Fed released household debt numbers May 13 that showed an overall plateauing or decline in delinquencies for credit cards and auto loans for all lenders.
MBA Mortgage Forecast Goes Back to the Past

1 month ago | cutimes.com | Jim DuPlessis

Last month the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) forecast was issued in the wake of President Trump’s proclamations of stiff tariffs on countries around the world. Since then Trump has backed off or paused many of the tariffs, and the MBA’s latest forecast dated May 16 reflects its worldview before early April’s tariff drama. However, the May 16 forecast shows a U.S. economy growing at half the rate it expected in its Jan. 20 forecast.
Financial Expert Tells Credit Unions to Brace for Lingering High Interest Rates

1 month ago | cutimes.com | Jim DuPlessis

All this led Jason Haley, chief investment officer for ALM First of Dallas, to wonder: “Did anything really happen?” His answer, in short, is that, yes, stuff happened. But much of the economic damage from the initial edicts has since been reversed.
BECU’s Average Results a Plus in Uncertain Times

1 month ago | cutimes.com | Jim DuPlessis

BECU is a microcosm of trends among credit unions, including rising savings, improving net interest income and declining auto loan balances. The net results have been about average: BECU generated $50.9 million in net income in the first quarter, or an annualized 0.69% return on average assets, compared with 0.59% ROA a year earlier. Originations were $1.4 billion, down 6.7% That compares with 0.67% ROA for all credit unions in the first quarter, up from 0.66% a year earlier.