The $5.6 billion Security Service Federal Credit Union of San Antonio has now completed its merger of the failed $130 million Norbel Credit Union of Fort Collins, Colo. in a transaction that followed an NCUA liquidation.
In taking over the five-branch Norbel, Security said it would further expand its Colorado footprint to include 16,000 new Colorado members, added to its national base of 750,000. SSFCU has 55 offices with 36 of them in Texas.
Approximately one-third of SSFCU's members are in Colorado, said SSFCU, noting it is the third largest CU in Colorado.
"We are pleased to welcome our newest members to the SSFCU family," said David Reynolds, president/CEO of SSFCU, which has had a Colorado presence since 1980. "Those members will continue to receive seamless, uninterrupted service."
John Worthington, senior vice president of SSFCU, said Norbel had been "a basically well-run credit union that simply got into trouble on some real estate and commercial loans." Economic conditions, he said, including loss of jobs and foreclosures worsened the situation, leading to the NCUA's liquidation. SSFCU said it was gratified that the Norbel board chose the San Antonio CU as its suitor.
Worthington said he could not project whether more Colorado CUs might be merger prospects, but nationally, "if you heard what came out of that NAFCU conference with hundreds of large Camel 3-4-5 merger candidates, you know there will be more down the road given this problematic economy."
