District of Columbia Credit Unions

Member engagement sent a cautiously positive signal in Q1 2026. Member growth accelerated to 0.12% from -0.14% in Q4 2025, reversing the prior quarter's contraction. However, on a year-over-year basis, growth decelerated sharply from 1.29% in Q1 2025 — a decline of 1.17 percentage points — signaling that the membership expansion seen a year ago has meaningfully cooled. Despite the sequential improvement, DC credit unions remain 77 basis points above the national member growth rate of -0.65%, suggesting the cohort retains a relative retention advantage even as momentum fades.

Profitability deteriorated on both timeframes in Q1 2026. ROA decreased to 0.20% from 0.34% in Q4 2025 (QoQ) and from 0.41% in Q1 2025 (YoY), placing DC credit unions 47 basis points below the national benchmark of 0.67%. NIM compressed to 3.54% from 3.61% last quarter, though on a year-over-year basis NIM increased from 3.42% in Q1 2025 — a gain of 0.12 percentage points. The NIM improvement over the prior year has not been sufficient to offset broader earnings pressure, leaving the cohort 16 basis points below the national NIM of 3.70%.

Growth metrics deteriorated broadly in Q1 2026. Asset growth decelerated to -1.57% from -0.52% in Q4 2025 and from +3.55% in Q1 2025 — a year-over-year swing of 5.11 percentage points — leaving the cohort 4.20 percentage points below the national rate of 2.64%. Loan growth decelerated further to -4.75% from -2.73% in Q4 2025, now 5.06 percentage points below the national 0.31%. Deposit growth similarly decelerated to -1.80% from -0.63% last quarter, trailing the national deposit growth rate of 2.16% by 3.96 percentage points. Year-over-year comparisons for loan and deposit growth are unavailable.

The risk picture offered meaningful relief in Q1 2026. Delinquency decreased to 1.00% from 1.36% in Q4 2025 — a 0.37 percentage point improvement — and decreased from 1.20% in Q1 2025, down 0.21 percentage points year-over-year. Despite this progress, the cohort's delinquency rate remains 22 basis points above the national benchmark of 0.78%, indicating continued credit stress relative to peers. Net worth decreased modestly to 11.59% from 11.78% in Q4 2025, though it increased 0.53 percentage points from 11.06% in Q1 2025. At 2.03 percentage points below the national net worth ratio of 13.61%, capital adequacy remains a structural concern.

DC credit unions maintain a heavily mortgage-concentrated portfolio. First mortgage loans held at 37.03% of the portfolio in Q1 2026, essentially unchanged from 37.02% in Q1 2025 (+0.01 pp YoY) and significantly above the national average of 22.15%. Indirect auto exposure remains negligible at 0.10%, up just 0.02 percentage points year-over-year and far below the national 7.73%. Share certificate concentration declined to 15.38% from 15.86% in Q4 2025 (-0.48 pp QoQ) and from 15.60% in Q1 2025 (-0.22 pp YoY), remaining 4.42 percentage points below the national certificate share of 19.80%.