Credit Unions vs. Banks: Dueling Headlines Part V

Bank Customer Switching Rates Rise Again, Fueled by Issues with Fees and Poor Service

“Credit Unions See Historic Jump to 91.8M Members in 2011"

Credit union membership growth was confirmed early this month when the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) announced a historic increase in credit union membership in 2011 to 91.8 million, up 1.5% despite a 1% decline in total institutions. 31% of all 2011 growth was experienced in the last quarter of the year, which was highlighted by the national “Bank Transfer Day” initiative launched on November 5. Membership growth of 398,000 in the quarter contrasts with losses of 251,000 in the last quarter of 2010 and 218,000 in the final quarter of 2009. Growth for the entire year of 2011 was 1.3 million.

“Demonstrating the industry’s resilience,” announced NCUA Board Chairman Debbie Matz, “2011 saw annual net income jump 41.2 percent to $6.4 billion. As a result, net worth grew 6.9 percent, reaching $98.4 billion, and the net worth ratio climbed from 10.06 percent to 10.23 percent. Credit union total assets also continued to rise, reaching $961.8 billion on Dec. 31, an increase of $10.6 billion for the quarter and $47.4 billion for the year.”

So, as a marketing professional working in the banking and credit union industry, how would you rate the efficacy of these reports? Are they really influencing consumer behavior or is it a practice in running interference against the competition?

At CultureSpan we prefer to take a different approach to helping clients find that niche and own it. It’s not always about the numbers and the research data. The groundswell begins at the front counter and in your involvement in the community. We’ve helped banks and credit unions (some with hundreds of thousands of members) cut through the clutter and make big moves like this. Want to learn more about how we did it? Click here to start a conversation.