CO-OP SHARED BRANCH SURPASSES BANK OF AMERICA IN NUMBER OF BRANCHES

Credit Union Shared Branching Network Now Third Among Financial Institutions

RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif. (June 8, 2015) - CO-OP Shared Branch has surpassed Bank of America in number of branch offices, and is now the nation's third largest network of financial institution branches, according to data drawn from the FDIC.

CO-OP Shared Branch comprises 5,341 branches, compared to Bank of America's 5,244 branches. The figures were compiled by CO-OP Financial Services on May 19, 2015, and retrieved from the FDIC's "Find Banks" page at www2.fdic.gov/idasp/main.asp.

"We have achieved a significant milestone by reaching more than 5,300 branches, but the sky is still the limit for our industry's unique shared branching concept," said Stan Hollen, President/CEO, CO-OP Financial Services. "There are about 1,800 credit unions participating in shared branching, offering convenient branch access to more than 52 million members wherever they may travel in the United States.

"In addition to member convenience, shared branching offers a means of generating revenue and operational efficiencies for participating institutions," said Hollen. "If all of the nearly 7,000 credit unions in the U.S. were part of shared branching, our locations would number about 21,000."

The credit union industry's shared branch network is also gaining fast on the two remaining networks with more branches. Chase has 5,892 branches and Wells Fargo has 6,392 according to the same FDIC source.

In addition to the more than 5,300 "live teller" branches, CO-OP Shared Branch also includes nearly 1,800 self-service kiosks within select 7-Eleven stores nationwide.

A business unit of CO-OP Financial Services (www.co-opf.org), CO-OP Shared Branch is the credit union movement's national network for extending branch services to members between institutions. Members of participating credit unions can enter the branch of any other participating credit union and transact account-related business as if they were in their own home branch.

To find a CO-OP Shared Branch location, or a CO-OP ATM, visit https://co-opcreditunions.org/locator.

For more information, visit http://www.co-opfs.org/solutions/locations/shared-branching.

About CO-OP Financial Services
Based in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., and founded in 1981, CO-OP Financial Services is the nation's largest credit union service organization in terms of number of credit unions, assets and members. The company helps credit unions thrive by providing products and services that make it more convenient for members to do business with them. With a motto of "Be There. Be More," CO-OP's products fall into three business lines, including "Locations," (ATM, shared branching and call center services); "Card Payments" (debit and credit processing) and "Mobile/Virtual" (mobile, online, check imaging, bill pay services). To learn more visit www.co-opfs.org

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