MARLBOROUGH, Mass. (10/14/15)--Paul Gentile, president/CEO of the Cooperative Credit Union Association, touted the strength of New Hampshire credit unions in a recently published Union Leader article.

Gentile specifically cited areas where New Hampshire credit unions lead the nation among cooperative financial institutions:

• Delinquency rates for mortgage loans are 0.37% in the state, which is less than half the national average of 0.75%;
   
• New Hampshire has an annualized membership growth of 4.43%, compared with a national average of 3.64%;
   
• Asset growth is 7.2% in the state, compared with a national average of 5.9%; and
   
• New Hampshire has overall loan growth of 15.2%, compared with a national average of 10.8%.

Gentile said loan portfolio performance in particular is impressive in New Hampshire. "The takeaway is that credit unions in New Hampshire are making good loans; it leads the nation in many of these categories," he said, noting the historical importance of New Hampshire to the credit union system.

"It all started here more than 100 years ago in New Hampshire and things continue to evolve," Gentile told the publication (Daily CU Scan Oct. 12). "Our role is to continue that growth and advocate for the interests of credit unions and their members, and make sure lawmakers continue to do the right thing."

The future of credit unions in the state will include a continued emphasis on reinvestments in core technology infrastructure and new investments in mobile lending, Gentile said.

"Credit unions have become very savvy in delivering services remotely with things like remote deposit capture, which allows members to scan checks and transmit a scanned image to the bank," Gentile said. "There are also a lot of opportunities for online lending through mobile applications; that's where we are trending."