Member-PFI Levels and Loan Market Shares
Rise With Assets

By Jon Haller
Director of Market Research,
Credit Union National Association

The percentage of members choosing a credit union as their primary financial institution (PFI) increases as credit union asset size increases - from a low of about 30% among credit unions with assets of under $25 million, to nearly 55% among those with assets of $100 million or more. This, according to CUNA Research's member survey comparison database - a database comprised of nearly 100 credit unions that have recently conducted member surveys with CUNA.

Similarly, credit unions' market shares of their members' vehicle, 1st mortgage and 2nd mortgage/home equity loan business also tend to rise somewhat as asset size increases - albeit, to not as great an extent as that found with respect to members' PFI loyalty.

The likelihood of having a dedicated marketing professional (e.g., a Marketing Director), and the average dollar-amount of a credit union's marketing budget both increase noticeably as asset size increases, most likely explaining the majority of the PFI and market share differences.

So, what's in a market share percentage point? Maybe a lot more than you think. For example, at a credit union with 40,000 adult members, roughly 20,000 of them would have a new or used vehicle loan somewhere (not necessarily at the credit union), according to national member borrowing patterns.

The average vehicle loan amount outstanding hovers around the $10,500 mark, according to CUNA Economics and Statistics. This means that this credit union's membership would have about $210 million in outstanding vehicle loans, and that each market-share percentage point that the credit union could attract would represent $2.1 million – that's some serious money, as well as some serious positive impact to the credit union's bottom line.

What are your credit union's member-PFI level and market shares for services? Conducting a member survey can identify the answers to these questions and more, to help you identify where your credit union excels and where it has opportunities for improvement.

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