Back-office support and Data Analytics solution CUSO Aux is excited to reveal their findings from a Q2 national credit union executives survey about growth in a challenging economy.  Aux conducts a quarterly survey among credit union executives on a variety of topics important to the credit union movement. During Q2 2022, Aux sought to uncover progress and shortcomings CUs are experiencing in a difficult and declining economic environment.  Coming out of COVID-19, credit unions were anxious to get back on a growth track. New growth plans were put in place by many, however, the economy began to stumble, with rising inflation, increased interest rates by the Fed to control inflation, shortages of products and services that impacted economic growth, as well as labor shortages following the “great resignation”. Aux reached out to credit union executives to gauge how they were coping with these issues and whether they were able to accomplish their goals.

 Several major takeaways can be gleaned from the survey. “Credit union executives define growth broadly, but the key areas they look to provide growth include growing loans, increasing new members and retaining existing members, and increasing products per member”, according to Alan Bergstrom, Aux VP of Marketing and Business Development.  “On an encouraging note, most credit unions report that they are still on track to achieve their goals for 2022 but cite that increasing new members has been the most challenging so far and the goal where they lag behind all other goals.”

"While inflation recently hit a 40-year high, most credit union executives believe it will have only a moderate negative impact on their operations. However, regarding labor market challenges, most credit unions indicated that it has been difficult to retain and attract talent and that the increased cost of labor will have a significant negative impact on their operations and bottom line,” according to Bergstrom.

To learn more about all the issues and responses included in the Q2 survey, visit Aux’s blog.