Skip to main content

7 Secrets For Merger Success | Credit Unions

These best practices will ensure your next merger won’t be your last.
By Aaron Pugh 

With six mergers completed since 2009 and three more on the immediate horizon, Credit Union of Southern California ($781.8M, Whittier, CA) — commonly referred to as CU SoCal — attributes just over half of its branch footprint and about 70% of growth achieved in the past five years to merger activity.

On the opposite side of the country, The Summit Federal Credit Union ($723.7M, Rochester, NY) averaged close to one merger a year between 2003 and 2011, increasing its assets by more than $445 million and adding 12 branches in three regional markets beyond its original Rochester and Seneca Falls footprint.

Despite the prevalence of this activity, neither of these institutions has ever actively sought out any merger partner. Instead, they’ve been responding to increased demand from small-to-mid-sized credit unions for cooperative alliances, both for survival and for the enhanced economies of scale a bigger sandbox can provide.

There’s no doubt that mergers can boost key metrics in a short amount of time, but according to these two cooperatives, those who pursue such opportunities out of a one-sided growth agenda usually falter as a result.

“We weigh every merger request we receive according to a number of factors, but it all boils down to two key questions: Does the merger ensure the financial safety and soundness of our credit union, and does it provide value to the members of both organizations?” says CU SoCal CEO Dave Gunderson.

“We’re not in business to put other credit unions out of business,” says Michael Vadala, CEO of The Summit. “But the industry is changing and in those cases where a merger is the right answer, you need to know how to do it and do it well.”

Below, both credit unions share seven key ways to stand out as an attractive merger partner and ensure those alliances don’t just benefit one party but rather strengthen the entire cooperative system.

Continued>>7 Secrets For Merger Success | Credit Unions

Comments

Post a Comment

Please no profanity or political comments.

Popular posts from this blog

New Podcast Series -3 Succession Planning Podcasts

https://www.ncofcu.org/podcast Join/Upgrade Check out some of NCOFCU's additional features: First Responder Credit Union Academy Financial Literacy Podcasts YouTube Mini's Blog Job Board
Post a Comment
Read Complete Article HERE>»

Federal Reserve Board announces pricing, effective January 1, 2026

  December 04, 2025 Federal Reserve Board announces pricing, effective January 1, 2026, for payment services the Federal Reserve Banks provide to banks and credit unions For release at 5:00 p.m. EST Share The Federal Reserve Board on Thursday announced pricing, effective January 1, 2026, for payment services the Federal Reserve Banks provide to banks and credit unions, such as the clearing of checks, automated clearing house (ACH) transactions, instant payments, and wholesale payment and settlement services. By law, the Federal Reserve must establish fees to recover the costs, including imputed costs, of providing payment services over the long run. The Federal Reserve expects to recover 108 percent of actual and imputed expenses in 2026, including the return on equity that would have been earned if a private-sector firm provided the services. Overall, price changes for 2026 will result in an estimated 0.9 percent average price increase for established, mature services. The entire ...
Post a Comment
Read Complete Article HERE>»

Loan Growth Part 3

MADISON, Wis.–Credit union loan balances rose 1.1% in February, faster than the 0.2% reported in February 2021, even as membership growth slowed significantly during the first two months of 2022, according to data released as part of CUNA Mutual’s April Trends Report. The Report, which is based on data through February, showed overall loan growth was 9.6% during the last 12 months. What is actually happening below the surface? According to the Trends Report, consistent with the trend line the analysis shows large credit unions reported significantly faster loan growth in 2021 as compared to smaller credit unions. Credit unions with assets greater than $1 billion reported loan growth of 8.4% compared to credit unions with assets less than $20 million, reporting loan growth of 0.9%. Here's a look at how credit unions performed by category, according to the newest Trends Report” ...
Post a Comment
Read Complete Article HERE>»

Credit Union Profits Climb 21% As Margins Widen, NCUA Reports

  If you don't read anything else, read this:  Performance By Asset Category WASHINGTON—Federally insured credit unions posted a sharp rebound in profitability through the third quarter of 2025, with net income up 21% year over year to an annualized $19.1 billion, according to new NCUA data. The increase—one of the strongest gains across the agency’s quarterly metrics—came as institutions benefited from rising interest income, wider net interest margins, and relatively stable credit costs. The NCUA reported that Q3 data show interest income climbed 7.6% over the period while the systemwide net interest margin expanded nearly 13%, helping credit unions absorb higher operating expenses and modest increases in loan-loss provisioning. The earnings surge outpaced the credit union system’s 3.7% asset growth and came amid a mixed lending environment in which residential mortgage balances rose sharply, but auto lending weakened. The industry’s aggregate net worth ratio also im...
Post a Comment
Read Complete Article HERE>»

Housing Forecast 2026: Mortgage Rates Remain Above 6%, but Affordability Improves Modestly

  Mortgage rates will continue to average above 6% next year, but affordability will improve modestly as the typical monthly payment falls below 30% of a household's income for the first time since 2022, the  Realtor.com®  economic research team predicts in its  2026 housing forecast . The forecast predicts  mortgage rates  will average 6.3% across 2026, a slight improvement from the 6.6% full-year average expected for 2025, but still well above the 4% historic average recorded from 2013 to 2019. Nationally, home prices will continue to grow 2.2% through the end of next year, after rising by 2% in 2025, the forecast indicates. However,  incomes  and overall inflation are expected to continue rising faster than growth in home prices, delivering a slight boost to affordability. Read the complete story and review graphs;  HERE    _______________________________________ Join/Upgrade Check out some of NCOFCU's additional features: First ...
Post a Comment
Read Complete Article HERE>»

Not Your Mother’s Credit Union

“Stablecoins aren’t a speculative play. They’re the next evolution of payments — and a chance for credit unions to lead, not lag. It starts with connecting members to DLT rails - the digital wallet. Without that, nothing else can happen. It’s just a new payment rail - embrace it or lose the relationship. It’s that simple.” While ‘ stablecoins ’ were the prevailing buzzword across Money20/20 this year, the credit union industry had a significant presence. Small financial institutions have staked a place in the future of payments. Credit unions  received a significant boost this summer with the enactment of the stablecoin bill into law. The Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act authorizes subsidiaries of federally insured credit unions, such as credit union service organizations, to become issuers. Not Your Mother’s Credit Union A Money20/20  fireside chat  with the regulator for credit unions that I moderated focused on the rulemaking task a...
Post a Comment
Read Complete Article HERE>»

Banking During and After COVID-19

Before COVID-19, the banking industry was experiencing an unprecedented period of growth and prosperity. Despite increasing consumer expectations and increased competition from non-traditional financial institutions, most banks and credit unions were stronger than at any period since the financial crisis of 2008. In a matter of only a few weeks, the world of banking has experienced a level of disruption that will change everything that had been the norm in financial services. There has not only been a major change in the way financial institutions conduct business but in the way, employees do their work and the way consumers manage their finances. Banks and credit unions must use this time of disruption to consider reinventing themselves from the inside out. It is a time when we need to better understand the way consumers expect their financial institution to support their financial needs. This includes the way banks and credit unions use data, AI, technology and human resources t...
Post a Comment
Read Complete Article HERE>»

Two Members of FOMC Indicate December Rate Cut Not a Sure Thing

  WASHINGTON–Two members of the Fed’s Open Market Committee have indicated they are in no hurry to further cut rates, despite market expectations. “I’m not decided going into the December meeting” and “my threshold for cutting is a little bit higher than it was at the last two meetings,” Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Austan Goolsbee said in a Yahoo Finance interview. “I am nervous about the inflation side of the ledger, where you’ve seen inflation above the target for four and a half years, and it’s trending the wrong way.” Goolsbee was interviewed after last week’s Federal Open Market Committee meeting that saw policymakers cut their interest rate target by a quarter percentage point, to between 3.75% and 4%, as officials sought to offset rising risks to the job market while still keeping interest rates in a position where they’ll help lower inflation pressures, noted Yahoo Finance. As the report also noted, Fed Chair Jerome Powell cautioned last week that “a further r...
Post a Comment
Read Complete Article HERE>»

CUs Encouraged to Promote Automatic Savings Plans

America Saves Week and Military Saves Week kick off this weekend. The week-long, national campaigns will begin Feb. 19 with events that aim to unite government, nonprofit and corporate groups to encourage individuals and families to save and build personal wealth. This year’s campaign theme – “Set Goals, Make a Plan, Save Automatically” – promotes the need for families to get aggressive with automatic savings.****READ MORE: CUs Encouraged to Promote Automatic Savings Plans :
Post a Comment
Read Complete Article HERE>»