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Kansas regulator: state-chartered credit unions are small and consolidating
Summary
Julie Murray, administrator of the Kansas Department of Credit Unions, told the Committee on Financial Institutions and Pensions that Kansas has 45 state‑chartered credit unions with about $6.5 billion in assets and that consolidation and small staff sizes are driving mergers.
Julie Murray, administrator of the Kansas Department of Credit Unions, told the Committee on Financial Institutions and Pensions that Kansas has 45 state‑chartered credit unions and that many are small, locally run operations facing consolidation pressures.
Murray said state‑chartered credit unions in Kansas hold about $6.5 billion in total assets, roughly $5 billion in loans and about $5.5 billion in deposits. She said 44 of the charters are “natural person” credit unions and one is a corporate credit union that provides services to other credit unions.
The regulator emphasized the small scale of many institutions: about half of Kansas credit unions have $20 million or less in assets and several operate with one or two staff members. “We are entirely fee funded as an agency,” Murray said, and the department currently runs with 12 FTEs and a risk‑based exam cadence that averages about 15 months between exams.
Murray described supervisory practice and performance metrics: the department uses National Credit Union Administration software for examinations, average delinquency across the state’s charters is about 1.4% (the median delinquency was reported at 66 basis points), return on assets is about 0.41%, and examiners rate risk on a 1–5 scale.
Committee members asked whether consolidation mirrored trends in state‑chartered banks; Murray said Kansas sees roughly two consolidations per year and attributed that to small staffs and turnover in rural communities. She said consolidation does not necessarily cause branch closures because smaller credit unions often look for partners that can preserve services for members.
The department also coordinates exam timing with the NCUA because NCUA insures these credit unions and uses risk factors to determine federal exam schedules. Murray said some institutions receive annual exams due to size or complexity while others are reviewed every 15–18 months.
The presentation closed with Murray offering to answer questions and providing written testimony the committee had received.
