The National Member Survey summarizes the directions in member attitudes over the past couple years to help credit unions understand what their members want from their financial institutions. With the information provided by the Survey, credit unions can better understand their members and, in turn, providebetter service, keep a competitive edge in the marketplace and stay abreast of impending member issues.

“Even today, there are plenty of positive trends for credit unions illustrated by the Survey,” says Jon Haller, director of corporate and market research at CUNA. “Credit unions’ loyalty score is still a full 37 percentage points above the banks’ score and the number of people who are extremely likely to say they’d recommend their credit union to others has increased.”

Furthermore, young adult memberships are on the rise, with members between 18 to 24 years of age constituting nine percent of credit unions’ total adult membership—up from six percent in 2006. Use of credit union checking accounts is also growing, suggesting that more people are choosing credit unions as their primary financial institution.

The Survey found that, in 2009, the gap between the credit union member loyalty score and that of members’ banks expanded significantly, with credit unions making significant gains. But, from 2009 to 2011, banks’ loyalty score nearly tripled the growth seen in credit unions, indicating that credit unions might have missed out on an opportunity to capitalize on the large-scale failure in the banking industry.

“The findings in CUNA’s National Member Survey can help credit unions better understand the member trends that will impact the credit union movement in the years to come,” adds Haller. “Credit unions need to understand their members in order to survive in today’s financial environment.”

For more information about CUNA’s 2011-2012 National Member Survey, visit CUNA’sMember Research Resources page.