Puerto Rico Credit Unions

Member engagement deteriorated in Q1 2026, with member growth decelerating sharply to -0.12% from 2.30% in Q4 2025 — a 2.41 pp swing that pushed the cohort into negative territory. While PR credit unions still outperform the national benchmark of -0.65% by 53 basis points, the reversal is notable. Year-over-year data is unavailable, limiting full trend context, but the quarter-over-quarter shift from meaningful growth to contraction suggests competitive or demographic pressures are emerging that could challenge long-term asset and loan expansion.

Profitability is the clear bright spot for PR credit unions in Q1 2026. ROA increased to 1.42% from 1.00% in Q4 2025 (QoQ) and from 0.54% in Q1 2025 (YoY), representing gains of 0.42 pp and 0.88 pp respectively — placing the cohort 75 bps above the national 0.67%. NIM, however, decreased to 4.85% from 5.08% in Q4 2025, though it remains 5 bps above Q1 2025's 4.80% and a commanding 1.15 percentage points above the national 3.70%. The NIM compression bears monitoring even as overall returns remain exceptional.

Asset growth accelerated to 3.44% in Q1 2026 from 1.18% in Q4 2025 — a 2.26 pp improvement — surpassing the national benchmark of 2.64% by 80 basis points. Year-over-year data for asset growth is unavailable. Loan growth, while still strong at 4.36% and far above the national 0.31%, decelerated from 8.46% in Q4 2025 — a 4.09 pp pullback. Year-over-year loan growth comparisons are also unavailable. The combination of accelerating assets and decelerating loans suggests deposit inflows may be outpacing credit demand, a dynamic worth tracking into Q2 2026.

The risk profile for PR credit unions remains stable and well-controlled in Q1 2026. Delinquency held steady at 0.49%, virtually unchanged from 0.49% in Q4 2025 (QoQ) and modestly improved from 0.53% in Q1 2025 (YoY) — sitting 28 basis points below the national 0.78%. Net worth decreased slightly to 12.50% from 12.77% in Q4 2025, though it has increased 0.75 pp from 11.74% in Q1 2025. At 12.50%, the ratio remains 1.12 pp below the national 13.61%, indicating a continued capitalization gap relative to the broader industry despite year-over-year improvement.

PR credit unions carry a distinctly differentiated portfolio versus national peers. First mortgage concentration increased to 9.47% — up 2.21 pp from 7.26% in Q1 2025 — yet remains sharply below the national 22.15%, suggesting limited long-term real estate exposure. Indirect auto lending holds at 0.00%, unchanged year-over-year and far below the national 7.73%, reflecting a deliberate or structural absence from that channel. Share certificate concentration increased to 27.34% from 26.77% in Q1 2025 (+0.58 pp), well above the national 19.80%, indicating members continue to favor term deposits — a liability mix that may support NIM but raises repricing sensitivity.