Spokane Teachers Credit Union posted lower net income for 2008, but its assets, loans, and deposits all grew sharply while its membership rolls climbed at a healthy clip.

The Spokane-based credit union had $8 million in net income last year, down from $9.5 million in 2007, says Bill Before, STCU's chief financial officer and vice president for finance. Before says STCU's earnings declined because the credit union set aside more money for potential loan losses. Despite the economic climate, he says, STCU boosted dividends to members by 6 percent last year, to $24.9 million.

"We had a great year in 2008," Before says. "We kind of grew in all areas."

STCU's deposits shot up 22 percent in 2008, ending the year at $927 million. That increase was fueled in part by a 40 percent jump in money-market account balances.

"I think a lot of the deposit growth was for people looking for something they could understand," Before says. "We saw a bigger share of IRAs, as people got tired of losing their principal."

Meanwhile, STCU's loans also jumped 21 percent, to about $1 billion as of Dec. 31, from $827 million at the end of 2007, he says.

The credit union originated $189 million first-mortgage loans in 2008, increasing its number of such loans to 1,049, up from 897 in 2007, Before says. Its loan charge offs for 2008 grew slightly to 0.25 percent, up from 0.15 percent in 2007.

Membership at STCU grew 9.4 percent in 2008 to just over 78,000 members as of Dec. 31. Before says the credit union was adding about 1,000 new accounts a month.

The credit union opened two new branches last year, in Liberty Lake and in Sandpoint, Idaho. It plans to open in June a branch at Northtown Square here.