Central Bank publishes Financial Conditions of Credit Unions Report

25 April 2025 Press Release

 

Exterior image of Central Bank Building

The Central Bank of Ireland today published the annual Financial Conditions of Credit Unions Report (PDF 816.46KB), which provides an update on the financial performance and position of the sector for the financial year ended 30 September 2024.  

The publication provides sectoral data and commentary, and aims to inform credit union boards and management in carrying out their own strategic analysis and decision-making.

The report identifies key trends for 2024, including:

Overall Balance Sheet

  • Total sector assets increased 3% to €21.5bn.
  • Gross loans outstanding increased 12% to €7.1bn.
  • Member savings increased 3% to €17.9bn.

Lending

  • New loans issued in the year increased by 8% to €3.28bn.
  • Personal loans continue to make up the majority of credit union loans, totalling €6.13bn or 86.8% of total loans outstanding.
  • Credit unions have continued to diversify their loan portfolios, in particular increasing their house lending:
    • House loans accounted for 10% of loans outstanding, with a total value of €733m.
    • House loans represents an increasing proportion of new loans issued, representing 9% (or €302m) for the financial year ending 30 September 2024, up from 3.6% in 2022.
    • The average house loan issued for the financial year ended 30 September 2024 was €155k, while the average personal loan size issued was €6k.

Savings –growth in member savings has continued, increasing to €17.9bn, up from €17.5bn in 2023.

Reserves – average sector total realised reserves as a percentage of total assets have remained steady at 16.6% (required regulatory minimum is 10 per cent of assets).

Return on assets (RoA) –The sector average RoA while still low, increased for the second year in a row, from 0.66% to 0.98%, the highest rate reported for the sector since September 2017. The increase in 2024 was driven primarily by an increase in income from investments.

Speaking today at the Irish League of Credit Unions (ILCU) Conference, Director of Banking & Payments Domhnall Cullinan said: “The Central Bank notes the continued positive trends in reported credit union sector data while emphasising the need for credit unions to be pro-active in managing income and expenditure and on asset/liability management to ensure resilience to withstand liquidity stresses. Maintaining and building adequate levels of resilience, including adequate operational resilience, remains key to ensuring credit union financial stability and resilience.”

Domhnall Cullinan added: “The Central Bank is committed to regulation remaining clear and proportionate, enabling prudent and sustainable lending, as demonstrated by the current review of the lending framework for credit unions. This review led to the Central Bank proposing a number of targeted material changes to the lending regulations for credit unions, including changes to the concentration limits for house and business lending, and changes to certain conditions attached to underwriting and loan performance reporting.

“The Central Bank’s expectation is that the proposed changes to the lending regulations, when implemented, will enable those credit unions that wish to, to undertake increased house and business lending activity in order to diversify loan books, improve loan to asset ratios and better deliver for their members. The Central Bank has been clear in its view that enabling regulations are not enough to deliver business model change – credit unions must take the opportunities that the legislative and regulatory framework enable.”