ORLANDO, Fla.-NAFCU President and CEO Fred Becker took the time during NAFCU's Annual Conference & Exhibition to commend federal credit unions for their growth. He told the 1,600 attendees of the conference that federal credit union membership was climbing and that one in four Americans belongs to a credit union. Becker rolled through a laundry list of the successes of federal credit unions from loans to shares. Federal credit union share growth is up 19% this year, he said, the highest in 20 years. Failing investments most likely helped prod this along. Additionally, federal credit unions are demonstrating strong net worth, which has become increasingly important with the implementation of prompt corrective action (PCA) regulations. According to Becker, only 3% of federal credit unions fall below the 7% requirement for adequate capitalization. Only 11 NAFCU members fall below this requirement. In fact, he added the average level of net worth at federal credit unions is so high that it would take 35 years of absolutely no income to deplete the average below the 7%. He also noted that savings as a percent of total household savings was up, as well as Individual Retirement Account and Keogh savings. "Does this mean we're going to rest on our laurels?" Becker inquired of the audience. "Absolutely not." He commented that while NAFCU could claim some victories from its "wish list" regarding regulatory and legislative changes to enhance the federal charter, such as allowing a single sponsor credit union to serve spin-offs of the original sponsor and remain single sponsor, a lot of work remains. [email protected]