ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Credit Union 1, the second largest creditunion in Alaska, will also be the state's only state-charteredcredit union when its merger with North Country CU, the state'sother SCCU, is completed. That should happen, if everything goes asplanned, by Jan. 1, 2004, according to Credit Union 1 President/CEOLeslie Ellis. Before that though, there are still some things thatneed to be done, like members' votes. Ellis said the NCCU Boardapproached Credit Union 1 in the beginning of August to propose thetwo credit unions merge. She said NCCU, based in Fairbanks, isstable and prosperous, but with only $25 million in assets, thecredit union has found it difficult to keep up with technology andoffer members the services they need. It wasn't only the fact thatboth credit unions are state-chartered that made Credit Union 1 theobvious merger partner choice for North Country, it was othercommonalities the two credit unions share that dictated NorthCountry's decision. For example, both credit unions have communitycharters – Credit Union 1 serves anyone who lives or works inAlaska. North Country's field-of-membership includes anyone wholives or works in their judicial district. Both credit unions alsouse the same data processor Ultradata. “North Country wants themerger to be minimally intrusive and painless to its members aspossible,” said Ellis. To help facilitate this, North Country'smembers will retain their account numbers. Credit Union 1 alsoalready has a branch in Fairbanks, albeit at the other end of thecity from North Country's facility. So that means North Country'smembers will have access to two branches in Fairbanks. NorthCountry also has a branch in Nome. According to the mergeragreement, all employees of North Country's two facilities will beretained. The credit union's manager Gary Thumser left the creditunion earlier this year, but the CU's board did not disclose thecircumstances. Ellis said she didn't anticipate the merger to havemuch of an impact on the volunteer-run Alaska Credit Union League.Even though the league will have one less dues paying member,Ellis, who is a member of the ACUL Board, said “given the league'snew schedule, that only amounts to about $800.” In addition, shenoted that officials and staff of North Country “haven't beenactive in any of the actual work of the league, although they'vebeen active participants with league educational sessions.” Ellisexpects North Country staff will continue to be involved in theACUL's educational sessions after the merger. At press time, Elliswas waiting to receive regulatory approval on the mergerapplication from the Alaska Department of Banking, Insurance &Securities. She expected to receive that by mid-September. Once shehas that in hand, then members of both credit unions will vote onthe merger which Ellis said should be done the last week inOctober. When the merger is complete, there will be 12 creditunions in Alaska. All except for Credit Union 1 will be federalcharters. [email protected]