“Loan growth at federally insured credit unions in 2014 climbed to the highest level since 2005,” the statement, issued on Monday said. “Total loans reached $712.3 billion.”
Americans were more willing to take risks and assume loans, which led to a 10.4 percent growth in outstanding loans between the end of 2013 and end of 2014, according to the statement.
However, 2014 saw long-term investments decline 3.5 percent or $276 billion, the statement said. All categories across the board saw investment declines except those with maturities of one to three years, which increased 11.8 percent to $99.7 billion.
Such development represented a decreasing economic confidence as Americans opted to save more to grow their assets.
Assets grew 5.7 percent or $60 billion, with total assets nearing $1.12 trillion, the statement said.
Additional signs of increased consumer savings are found in the share and deposit accounts at US credit unions, which increased $11.7 billion to $951 billion.
The NCUA is an independent US federal agency tasked with regulating, chartering and supervising federal credit unions.
