The NCUA approved 46 mergers by the end of the second quarter, down from 54 mergers approved by the federal agency in the first quarter of 2016.
The second quarter consolidations are substantially less than previous second quarters. In the second quarter of 2015, the NCUA approved 72 mergers, 70 in 2014 and 62 in 2013.
Despite the lower number of consolidations in this year’s second quarter, the pace of mergers on an annual basis have occurred on a consistently elevated rate of about 250 to 260 consolidations per year since 2001. This trend indicates a steadily increasing total merger rate as the number of consolidations has remained relatively steady, even as the number of total credit unions continue to decline, according to a white paper recently published by the Southeast CUNA Management School, which weighed the good and the bad aspects of the industry’s consolidation.
What’s more, the white paper included new, groundbreaking research that explores whether members of merged credit unions think consolidations have added value and improved their financial lives. The results of this original research will be highlighted in the print edition of the Aug. 24 edition of the CU Times.
Most of the second quarter mergers occurred in California, Pennsylvania and Ohio, where there were four mergers in each state, followed by three consolidations each in Virginia and New York, and two each in Connecticut and Hawaii.
Among the 46 mergers in the second quarter, 36 were approved by the NCUA for expanded services. Five credit unions were consolidated because of poor financial condition, while two credit unions were merged because of lack of growth and one for lack of members, and two were approved to merge because they were unable to find a new CEO, or as the NCUA calls it, the inability to obtain officials.
The credit unions that were approved to merge because of poor financial condition included the $1.3 million Stark Metropolitan Housing Authority Federal Credit Union in Canton, Ohio into the $60 million Eaton Family Credit Union in Euclid, Ohio; the $43 million Alamo Federal Credit Union in San Antonio into the $20.1 billion Pentagon Federal Credit Union in Alexandria, Va.; the $11.2 million WAT Federal Credit Union in Williamsport, Pa., into the $345 million South Jersey Credit Union in Deptford, N.J.; the $1.4 million Reid Temple Federal Credit Union in Glenn Dale, Md., into the $26.9 million WSSC Federal Credit Union in Laurel, Md., and the $7.1 million RCT Credit Union in Augusta, Ga., which merged into the $311 million Peach State Federal Credit Union in Lawrenceville, Ga.
The $5.5 million First State Refinery Federal Credit Union in New Castle, Del., received the OK to merge because of lack of growth. First State was approved to consolidate with the $264 million Dexsta Federal Credit Union in Wilmington, Del. Also receiving approval to merge because of lack of growth was the $449,271 KCUMB Credit Union in Kansas City, Mo., which consolidated into the $2.2 billion CommunityAmerica Credit Union in Lenexa, Kan.
The $579,042 Delaware River Employees Credit Union in Swedesboro, N.J., received the green light to merge by the NCUA because of loss or declining field of membership. Delaware River was approved to consolidate into the $62.2 million Fort Billings Federal Credit Union in Paulsboro, N.J.
The $6.3 million Hempfield Area Credit Union in Greensburg, Pa., got the nod to merge because it couldn’t find a new CEO. Hempfield Area Credit Union was approved to consolidate with the $33.3 million Elliott Community Federal Credit Union in Jeannette, Pa. The $2.7 million Norfolk Schools Credit Union in Norfolk, Va., also got the nod to merge by the NCUA because it was unable to find a new CEO. Norfolk Schools was approved to consolidate with the $61.2 million NMA, Virginia Beach, Va.
The largest credit union that received the green light to merge was the $95 million Dexter Credit Union in Central Falls, R.I., for expanded services. Dexter was approved to merge into the $1.7 billion Navigant Credit Union in Smithfield, R.I.
Most of the other cooperatives that received the OK to merge had less than $50 million in assets, with three exceptions that included the $76.1 million Keystone Federal Credit Union in West Chester, Pa., into the $1.8 billion Trumark Financial Credit Union in Fort Washington, Pa.; the $79.2 million Northwest Georgia Credit Union in Rome, Ga., into the $204 million Coosa Valley Credit Union in Rome, Ga., and the $53 million Freedom Credit Union in Rocky Mount, N.C. into the $2.6 billion Coastal Federal Credit Union in Raleigh, N.C.
