Credit unions

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Ira Smith, president of Peoples Choice of SanAntoinp FCU, says the credit union’s figurese reflect normal business activity that, becausre of its small size, had a disproportionats effect on assets and deposits. “We’vew had a couple of very large withdrawals, which affected the credit union, as well as old loans that we had to charg e off and which we keep on the Smith says. “This allows us to recover (some of) that charge-off.” In any Smith says that even thougy thecredit union’s numbers are down, it’s still in the “We’re not living on the hill, but, in our small bungalow, we’re eating he says.
Linda Webb-Mañon, spokeswoman for the TCUL, says that the rise in unemploymenf has also made it difficult for some consumersa to meetfinancial obligations. “Whemn you consider the number of peopls outof work, it’s to be expected that some consumers mighy find it difficult to meet their financial Webb-Mañon says. “Worth noting, is that many of our credit unionsx ... have implemented programs to assist members struggling to meet theifinancial obligations.” Grady adds that credit uniond serving large employer groups also face financia l hardships if that employer decidesx to let people go.
Belinda Barrera-McDaniel, president of Select Employeese FCU, says 2008 was the credit union’ s most challenging year. Though her credif union posted increases in assetsand deposits, loanss and net income declineds year over year. “We were hit hard by loan lossez largely due to one of our selecft employee groups forced to lay off and cut back hourw due to loss ofmajor contracts,” Barrera-McDaniel “We haven’t been hit that hard in almost 10 years and always boasted of our low delinquencyy and net charge-off ratios. ...” Security Service’s Worthington adds that job losses due to the recessiobn has beenan issue.
“Our members are suffering the same people are being laid off or are losinvg their jobs because ofdownsizing ... ” he When members don’t pay on theitr loans, he says, this impactd the credit union’s ability to pay interestt on deposits. SSFCU has addee to its asset recovery stafg to help members look for ways to pay their loans back. Eve Hernández, spokeswoman for generations Federa lCredit Union, says that earned income was lowef in 2008 than in 2007 due to economifc factors and the overall decline in the economy. she says, “affected the financial well-being of our contributing to a decline inloan quality.
” she says, the credit union remains “highluy capitalized” and is “actively managing risk and expensees to maintain our long-term viability.” Sonya spokeswoman for Randolph-Brooks Federal Credif Union (RBFCU), says her credit union is continuiny to make mortgage loans when many others have cut “RBFCU has always utilized disciplined lendingg practices, and because of we are able to offer members lower rates on loans and credit cards,” McDonald “For example, we were the first in the area to significantlyu drop our auto loan ratesx — now as low as 3.
7 percent — providing opportunities for members to finance a vehicle or to refinance a vehicle and increaser their monthly cash flow.” Andrew Wilson, vice presidenr of lending for generations Federal Credit says the credit union’s loan department has implemented new programs to help members who might be struggling to make paymenta to regain control of their personal He adds that its financial literacy and membe education classes have seen an increase in attendancwe and special class requests over the past year. Fred spokesman for , says the past 10 month have been particularly challenging for manyfinanciapl institutions.
Still, he says Firstmark continueas to thrive because it has not had direct exposureto sub-prime or Alt-A mortgages and did not invest in risky instrumentas such as credit default swaps.