3.3 billion ways to showcase the credit union difference

Credit unions across the country offer members better rates, reduced fees, and other patronage perks. That’s something to celebrate.

Oct. 18 marks the 70th anniversary of International Credit Union Day. By many accounts, it’s a great time to be a credit union.  It’s also a great time to be a credit union member.

The third cooperative value encourages credit unions to reward members for their participation. Indeed, credit unions do that every day in the form of better rates and lower fees.  But many credit unions go above and beyond that.

The industry made $3.3 billion in dividend payouts in the first six months of 2018. That’s 8.5% of the industry’s income and a 22.1% increase over this time last year.

Returning value in the form of a patronage dividend is a powerful tool to reward loyalty.  Of course, whether and when a credit union chooses to offer a patronage dividend varies across organizations. As does how they calculate the return and communicate the occasion.

 

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