PORTLAND , Ore. , August 25, 2009 – AssetExchange, a leading credit union credit card portfolio advisory and brokerage firm, has analyzed second quarter 2009 credit union credit card portfolio trends.

For the roughly 2,100 credit unions with credit card portfolios of $1 million and larger:

• About three card portfolios were sold in the second quarter of 2009 with approximately $4.5 million in combined outstandings, down from about $20 million in portfolio sales in the 2nd quarter of 2008 and $190 million in the 1st quarter of 2009.
  
  
• Outstanding balances grew 6.3% between June 2008 and June 2009 to $32 billion, slightly faster than the first quarter 2009 rate of 5.9%. Card accounts grew 2.2% over the same period to 12.3 million.  The percentage of portfolios that grew more than the rate of inflation during the previous 12 months increased to 70% in the second quarter of 2009 from 60% in the second quarter of 2008, as inflation was negative.
  
  
• Cards as a percentage of total assets declined to 4.57% in the second quarter of 2009, down from 4.80% in the second quarter of 2008. This metric is up slightly compared to the first quarter of 2009 when the ratio was 4.52%. 
  
  
• Credit card penetration remained approximately flat in the second quarter of 2009 at 18%.

Data provided in this press release is for credit card portfolios larger than $1 million in each time period and is based on NCUA call report data.  Inflation values are from the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics (-1.43% between June 2008 and June 2009).