
Navy Federal grows while SECU, PenFed stagnate
The largest three credit unions in the U.S. had varying degrees of success in terms of earnings, membership growth and asset expansion in 2024.
How much does a healthy advertising spend impact asset and membership growth for the largest credit unions in the U.S.?
A Tyfone study of results for the largest three credit unions in the country by assets showed mixed results.
Among the highlights of the year-end call report data recently released by the National Credit Union Administration was that Navy Federal Credit Union grew its membership by 7% year over year.
The world’s largest credit union boasted 14,266,170 members at the end of 2024 compared to 13,342,112 a year earlier.
According to the call reports, Vienna, Virginia-based Navy Federal grew its total assets during the past year by 6% to $180.8 billion.
By comparison, Raleigh, North Carolina-based State Employees’ Credit Union – the second-largest credit union in the U.S. – struggle with both asset and membership growth.
In fact, assets for State Employees’ fell to just below $53 billion at the end of 2024, down from $54.6 billion a year earlier.
In terms of membership, State Employees’ grew by just 2% to more than 2.8 million members.
Comprehensive industry data for the fourth quarter is not yet available, but membership growth has been a sore spot across the space for the past few quarters.
While U.S. credit unions added 3.2 million members by the end of the third quarter, much of that growth came at the top end of the asset spectrum.
Still, some huge institutions – including Pentagon Federal Credit Union – have struggled to grow.
The third-largest credit union in the nation, PenFed, saw both assets and membership fall on a year-over-year basis.
PenFed membership fell by 1% during the year to 2,833,403 while assets tumbled from $34.8 billion to $31 billion.
So how much of the gap in growth between Navy Federal and the other two behemoths is due to the difference in advertising spending?
While Navy Federal spent $227 million on marketing and promotion in 2024 – up 16% from 2023 – State Employees’ spent just $1.4 million, down from $6.5 million the year before.
PenFed spent $52 million on advertising in 2024 compared to $57 million in 2023, the call reports showed.
“Navy’s marketing efforts have been very effective in executing their military family strategy to add to membership totals, emphasizing that immediate family members of active or former military personnel are eligible for Navy Federal membership,” said Jim Adkins, managing partner for Artisan Advisors.
So what about the impact on earnings?
Navy Federal earned roughly $1.7 billion in 2024, a 25% increase compared with a year earlier, according to call report data from the NCUA.
State Employees’ earned $192.5 million last year, a 47% decrease compared to a year earlier.
And PenFed outperformed both of the others, with 2024 earnings up 116% year over year to $36.3 million.