The $326 million Premier Members Federal Credit Union of Boulder, Colo. made an industry claim Wednesday-Colorado's first CU-operated branch to open in a Wal-Mart store.
"We've long discovered that a high percentage of our members are heavy users of Wal-Mart and so we're pretty excited at getting the exposure at our new Broomfield branch," said Branda Abbott, interim CEO and chief operating officer.
A second Wal-Mart branch for Premier will open in Longmont next February, said Abbott who took over the Premier helm last March following the resignation of Rhett Rowe, a former Denver bank president, who first initiated the Wal-Mart idea in a deal with Financial Supermarkets Inc. a Cornelia, Ga. vendor that markets to CUs and banks.
Premier has 12 branches throughout metro Denver including three former offices of ailing Colorado United, which was merged into Premier last January. Abbott was a former officer of Colorado United.
The Wal-Mart facility will give Premier "new brand awareness as we try to target a different market segment," said Abbott.
