Lending at credit unions increased by almost 14% in the past year, driven by a significant rise in mortgage lending.
That is according to figures from the Irish League of Credit Unions (ILCU), which represents over 90% of the credit unions here.
Its latest results show that around 1,800 mortgages were issued by ILCU-affiliated credit unions in the 12 months to the end of March.
The value of mortgages issued jumped 70% in the past year, with its mortgage loan book reaching €473m.
Across the entire credit union sector, the mortgage loan book topped €600m.
The ILCU said it is on target to reach €1 billion in mortgage lending over the next two years.
In total, ILCU-affiliated credit unions issued €2.74 billion of loans in the year to the end of March.
This brings the total loans outstanding to €5.56 billion, up 13.6% on the previous year.
The report today also reveals that members’ savings increased by 1.8% to €15.16 billion.
Meanwhile, the assets of ILCU-affiliated credit unions stood at €18.1 billion at the end of March – up more than 40% over the last ten years.
“These robust financial results highlight the continued growth trajectory and future potential of credit unions, and opportunities that they offer members all across Ireland,” said David Malone, CEO of the Irish League of Credit Unions.
In terms of current account growth, over 1,000 new credit union current accounts were opened weekly in the first three months of the year.
Membership has also continued to grow with 3.25 million credit union members across the country, up 46,000 in the past year.
Today’s figures show that credit unions processed over 20 million electronic payments between January and March, of which 50% were card based and 50% SEPA transfers.
Of the card-based transactions, it said 95% were point of sale or online, with 5% ATM withdrawals.
Meanwhile, 62% of all point-of-sale transactions were paid using contactless payment.
