Alabama's 89 credit unions entered 2026-Q1 with a mixed scorecard: profitability rebounded sharply year-over-year as ROA climbed from 0.54% in 2025-Q1 to 0.68% now, yet membership continued contracting, deepening to -0.18% from -0.08% a year ago. Asset growth decelerated to 3.32% from 5.30% in 2025-Q1 but still outpaces the national 2.64%. Delinquency improved on both fronts, falling from 1.02% a year ago to 0.84% today. The core tension — recovering margins alongside shrinking membership — raises urgent questions about organic growth sustainability heading into the remainder of 2026.
✦ Q1 2026 · First Look
Alabama Credit Unions
AL Credit Unions
AL Credit Unions Shed Members Even as Profits Recover — Membership Contraction Deepens Year-Over-Year
Key Insights
Year-over-Year Changes
Indirect Auto Concentration (%) (Absolute)
▼
2025-Q1
→
2026-Q1
5.57% → 5.15%
(-0.42%)
Asset Growth (YoY) (Absolute)
▼
2025-Q1
→
2026-Q1
5.30% → 3.32%
(-1.99%)
Share Certificate Concentration (%) (Absolute)
▲
2025-Q1
→
2026-Q1
20.30% → 21.33%
(+1.03%)
First Mortgage Concentration (%) (Absolute)
▲
2025-Q1
→
2026-Q1
21.00% → 21.94%
(+0.94%)
Member Growth (YoY) (Absolute)
▼
2025-Q1
→
2026-Q1
-0.08% → -0.18%
(-0.10%)
Quarter-over-Quarter Changes
Indirect Auto Concentration (%) (Absolute)
▼
2025-Q4
→
2026-Q1
5.24% → 5.15%
(-0.09%)
Asset Growth (YoY) (Absolute)
▼
2025-Q4
→
2026-Q1
3.65% → 3.32%
(-0.33%)
Share Certificate Concentration (%) (Absolute)
▲
2025-Q4
→
2026-Q1
21.16% → 21.33%
(+0.17%)
First Mortgage Concentration (%) (Absolute)
▲
2025-Q4
→
2026-Q1
21.73% → 21.94%
(+0.21%)
Loan Growth (YoY) (Absolute)
▲
2025-Q4
→
2026-Q1
0.81% → 1.40%
(+0.59%)
Key Metrics
Return on Assets
0.68%
▲ YoY1 basis points above national
Net Interest Margin
3.63%
— YoY7 basis points below national
Asset Growth
3.32%
▼ YoYMember Growth
-0.18%
Delinquency Rate
0.84%
▼ YoYNet Worth Ratio
15.82%
AMR Growth
1.14%
Insufficient historical data for trend visualization
Deposit Growth
2.73%
Loan Growth
1.40%
— YoYMember Engagement
Member Growth (YoY %)
Member engagement presents a mixed picture for Alabama credit unions in 2026-Q1. On a quarter-over-quarter basis, membership contraction accelerated slightly, improving from -0.34% in 2025-Q4 to -0.18% in 2026-Q1 — a positive directional shift of 0.16 pp. However, year-over-year the trend has worsened: membership was -0.08% in 2025-Q1 and has now decelerated by 0.10 pp to -0.18%. The silver lining is that Alabama's cohort remains 46 basis points above the national benchmark of -0.65%, suggesting relative resilience even as organic membership growth remains elusive.
Profitability
Return on Assets (%)
Net Interest Margin (%)
Profitability for Alabama credit unions is a genuine bright spot on a year-over-year basis. ROA increased from 0.54% in 2025-Q1 to 0.68% in 2026-Q1, a gain of 0.14 pp, placing the cohort 1 basis point above the national benchmark of 0.67%. Quarter-over-quarter, ROA was essentially stable, edging from 0.69% in 2025-Q4 to 0.68% — a negligible decline of 0.005 pp. NIM held steady at 3.63% both quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year, trailing the national 3.70% by 7 basis points. Overall, the profitability trajectory is positive, though NIM headroom remains limited.
Growth
Asset Growth (YoY %)
Member Growth (YoY %)
Asset growth for Alabama credit unions decelerated to 3.32% in 2026-Q1 from 3.65% in 2025-Q4 (down 0.33 pp QoQ) and from 5.30% in 2025-Q1 (down 1.99 pp YoY), yet the cohort still outpaces the national rate of 2.64% by 68 basis points. Loan growth offers a more encouraging signal: it accelerated to 1.40% in 2026-Q1 from 0.81% in 2025-Q4, a gain of 0.59 pp quarter-over-quarter, and stands 1.09 percentage points above the national benchmark of 0.31%. The divergence between slowing asset growth and accelerating loan growth suggests a healthier, more productive balance sheet composition.
Risk & Credit Quality
Delinquency Rate (%)
Net Worth Ratio (%)
Alabama credit unions' risk profile improved meaningfully across both timeframes. Delinquency decreased from 0.94% in 2025-Q4 to 0.84% in 2026-Q1 (down 0.10 pp QoQ) and from 1.02% in 2025-Q1 to 0.84% today (down 0.19 pp YoY), though the cohort remains 6 basis points above the national benchmark of 0.78%. Net worth decreased modestly from 16.14% in 2025-Q4 to 15.82% in 2026-Q1 (down 0.32 pp QoQ), but increased from 15.38% in 2025-Q1 (up 0.44 pp YoY), and sits a substantial 2.20 percentage points above the national 13.61%, signaling strong capital buffers.
Portfolio Mix
First Mortgage (%)
Indirect Auto (%)
Share Certificates (%)
Alabama credit unions are gradually reshaping their portfolios. First mortgage concentration rose to 21.94% in 2026-Q1 from 21.73% in 2025-Q4 (up 0.21 pp QoQ) and from 21.00% in 2025-Q1 (up 0.94 pp YoY), approaching but still 0.21 pp below the national 22.15%. Share certificate concentration increased to 21.33% from 21.16% in 2025-Q4 (up 0.17 pp QoQ) and from 20.30% in 2025-Q1 (up 1.03 pp YoY), now exceeding the national 19.80% by 1.53 pp. Indirect auto exposure continued its retreat, falling to 5.15% from 5.24% in 2025-Q4 and 5.57% in 2025-Q1, remaining well below the national 7.73%.
Strategic Implications
- • Accelerating loan growth to 1.40% — nearly 4.5x the national rate — signals lending momentum, but must be monitored against the still-elevated delinquency rate of 0.84% to avoid credit quality erosion.
- • Deepening membership contraction year-over-year (-0.18% vs. -0.08%) despite recovering ROA exposes a structural gap: profitability is not translating into member acquisition or retention at scale.
- • The 1.03 pp YoY surge in certificate concentration to 21.33% reflects members seeking yield certainty; credit unions should evaluate whether this deposit mix shift will pressure funding costs as rates evolve.
- • With net worth at 15.82% — 2.20 pp above the national benchmark — Alabama CUs hold significant capital capacity to fund growth initiatives or absorb credit stress without threatening well-capitalized status.
- • Declining indirect auto exposure (down 0.42 pp YoY to 5.15%, well below the national 7.73%) reduces concentration risk but may limit loan volume growth if direct lending channels are not actively developed.
How does your credit union compare?
See where you stand against 4,800+ credit unions nationwide
Free to explore · Full scorecards with a quick email sign-in (no password)
Notable Patterns
How This Cohort Compares to National
Loan To Share Ratio is 6.3pp below national
Indirect Auto Pct is 2.6pp below national
Net Worth Ratio is 2.2pp above national
Certificate Pct is 1.5pp above national
Loan Growth (annual) is 1.1pp above national
Data Quality Notes
5 metric(s) had extreme values filtered using MAD-based, z-score > 5.0.
Total Delinquency Rate (60+ days) (Absolute)
6 CU(s) excluded
Raw average: 1.63% →
Cleaned average: 0.84%
View excluded credit unions
- OPP-MICOLAS (62486) - 3.81%
- TUSKEGEE (2791) - 4.50%
- MEAD COATED BOARD (18192) - 6.78%
- COVINGTON SCHOOLS (11950) - 8.02%
- SIXTH AVENUE BAPTIST (15938) - 10.02%
- NRS COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT (24583) - 42.18%
Member Growth (YoY) (Absolute)
3 CU(s) excluded
Raw average: 0.30% →
Cleaned average: -0.18%
View excluded credit unions
- TUSCALOOSA V A (7532) - 39.84%
- RED OAK (63940) - 33.47%
- REDSTONE (7544) - -31.69%
Return on Assets (ROA) (Absolute)
2 CU(s) excluded
Raw average: 0.64% →
Cleaned average: 0.68%
View excluded credit unions
- DEMOPOLIS (17311) - 4.38%
- COVINGTON SCHOOLS (11950) - -6.35%
Net Worth Ratio (Absolute)
1 CU(s) excluded
Raw average: 16.25% →
Cleaned average: 15.82%
View excluded credit unions
- DEMOPOLIS (17311) - 54.46%
Net Interest Margin (NIM) (Absolute)
1 CU(s) excluded
Raw average: 3.67% →
Cleaned average: 3.63%
View excluded credit unions
- BIRMINGHAM CITY (64528) - 7.58%