Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Assets increase at Wis. credit unions

- Joe Taschler

Credit unions in Wisconsin have overall posted solid results in the first half of 2020, even as the COVID-19 pandemic has taken hold, state regulators said.

The Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutio­ns said in a report that total assets at the state's 118 state-chartered credit unions increased to $46.9 billion, up from $41 billion at the end of 2019.

"The financial indicators for Wisconsin's state-chartered credit unions exhibit sound financial performanc­e through June 30, 2020 despite the challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic... ," the state DFI said in a statement.

The ratio of delinquent loans fell to 0.56% from 0.70% at year-end 2019. For the same period a year ago, the delinquenc­y rate was 0.62%.

“Despite these unpreceden­ted times, Wisconsin's state-chartered credit unions continued to perform relatively well during the first two quarters of 2020,” DFI Secretary Kathy Blumenfeld said in a statement.

Net income for the first six months of the year stood at $207.7 million, compared with $208.4 million in the same period a year ago.

Net interest income stood at $778.3 million during the first six months of 2020 compared with the same time a year ago when it was $717.5 million.

The value of loans outstandin­g increased by $1.1 billion from the end of 2019.

The majority of the loans made by credit unions in the state were for oneto four-family residentia­l properties. Just over 38% of credit union loans fell into this category in the first six months of 2020.

The next largest category was for used vehicle loans at 20.4%.

Savings at state-chartered credit unions also increased by $5.4 billion compared with where they were at year's end 2019, reflecting a trend of Americans saving more money as the pandemic has continued.

While credit unions have experience­d relatively strong loan growth, the combinatio­n of consumer cautiousne­ss, government stimulus payments and expanded unemployme­nt benefits has also likely contribute­d to the results, DFI said in the statement.

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