IE Business Daily Business news for the Inland Empire.
Credit unions pumped an estimated $780 million into the Inland Empire economy and produced approximately $87 million in savings to its members during 2016, according to data released Tuesday.
Statewide, credit unions had a $17 billion impact on the economy last year, about the same as Kraft Heinz, General Mills, Xerox and Facebook each contributed to the state’s economy, the California Credit Union League for San Bernardino and Riverside County reported in its assessment of the industry’s impact on California during 2016.
That local and statewide data includes credit unions based in California, as well some based out of state that conduct business here.
In the Inland Empire, 46 credit unions served more than 1.1 million members last year, either online, by mobile banking or at 112 branches.
“It was a very good year for credit unions, for a lot of reasons,” said Dwight Johnston, chief economist with the Ontario-based organization. “A lot of it was because the California economy did so well last year. We’re looking for more growth in 2017, but there could be a slight slowdown.”
The two staples of credit unions – automobile and home loans – continue to perform well, and as long as that trend lasts the industry will remain healthy, according to Johnston.
“People are buying cars and they’re buying houses,” Johnston said. “With houses, they’re trying to find something they can afford, but they still want to buy.”
Locally, the 23 credit unions headquartered in Riverside and San Bernardino counties last year had approximately 343,000 members, issued about $1.8 billion in loans and held roughly $2.8 billion in deposits, according to the report.
The credit union league decided to conduct a one-year study to show California legislators how important credit unions have become to the state’s economy, said Rick Stanton, vice president of data analysis and media relations for the credit union league.
“We wanted it be a large picture, not just a snapshot,” Stanton said.
