... through the roof!
Many SECU members have expressed their strong opposition to the discriminatory overcharging of risk-based lending (RBL), which is highly correlated to the race, age and gender of a member . The wrong members are being unfairly overcharged for the wrong reasons, which is detrimental to the financial health of the members - and ultimately catastrophic for the reputation of the Credit Union.
The SECU Board - and particularly the Executive Leadership Team (ELT) - have pooh-poohed those concerns and trumpeted the great improvements in efficiency and effectiveness that "tier-based pricing" (TBP) has brought to SECU lending!
When members point out that the financial results - in terms of loan losses and loan delinquency - don't support those claims, the ELT becomes a bit miffed and has pouted authoritatively that those poor results are "industry standard". "Everybody" is suffering increased losses and delinquency due to rising rates, the Fed, mounting inflation, a weak N.C. economy, climate change, 2024 being a "leap year", the phases of the moon, and global warming, i.e. - "It's not our fault!"
The surge in loan losses and delinquency under "RBL/TBP" is costing the SECU membership literally hundreds of millions of dollars each year now.
✅ Let's take a look at how the 10 largest credit unions in North Carolina are faring with loan delinquency under exactly the same economic circumstances as SECU!
(Name of CU and 60-day delinquency rate at March 31, 2024)
- SECU (Raleigh) 2.07%
- Truliant (W-S) .95%
- Coastal (Raleigh) .56%
- Local Gov't (Raleigh) 2.67%*
- Allegacy (W-S) .44%
- Self-Help (Durham) . 95%
- Skyla (Charlotte) .66%
- Latino (Durham) 1.10%
- Marine (Jacksonville) .92%
- Ft. Liberty (Fayetteville) .62%
✅ You'll note that all the other large credit unions in North Carolina (except Local Government*) are managing their loans with a delinquency rate generally less than one half the rate of SECU - regardless of the Fed, climate change, or the phase of the moon.
✅ You might also like to note the SECU 60-day delinquency rate was 1.16% at March 31, 2019 vs. 2.07% in 2024 - granted 2019 wasn't a leap year!
This is not a minor matter for SECU, regardless of the pouting!
* SECU makes and "collects" most Local Gov't loans - the 2.67% ratio may be one reason why LGFCU is seeking "independence"!
