IE Business Daily Business news for the Inland Empire.
Inland Empire credit unions kept flexing their muscle during the first quarter of this year.
The region’s 23 credit unions increased their membership by 13 percent – to 336,000 members – during that time compared with the first quarter of 2015, according to data released Monday by the California and Nevada Credit Union Leagues.
In addition, lending by credit unions in Riverside and San Bernardino counties went up 30 percent year-over-year – a total of $1.6 billion loaned out – during the first three months of this year, while deposits hit a record $2.74 billion, an increase of 23 percent, the credit union leagues reported.
The success of Inland Empire credit unions can be attributed mostly to the performance of the Inland Empire economy, said Dwight Johnston, chief economist for the credit union leagues.
“The Inland Empire economy has done very well this year so the credit unions in the Inland Empire are doing well,” Johnston said. “A lot of the lending growth is happening in auto loans. We’ve been pushing those for the last few years, and now the effort is paying off.”
Credit unions also received a boost when the stock market performed erratically last January, a performance that drove some investors out of the stock market and into credits unions, which are generally considered a safe investment, Johnston said.
“You can’t say everyone who got out of the stock market got into credit unions, but some of them did,” Johnston said. “It did have some impact.”
Credit unions in general should enjoy a solid 2016.
“I’m optimistic,” Johnston said. “I think the economy is going to keep doing well so credit unions should keep doing well. With the economy right now we’re concerned with what might happen, not with what is happening, and that’s a good thing.”
