CornerstoneCredit Union League – which merged the Arkansas Credit UnionLeague, the Credit Union Association of Oklahoma and Texas CreditUnion League in May – opened for business Monday as the largestcredit union league in the U.S.

Texas Credit Union League President/CEO Dick Ensweiler has beenselected to serve as the first CEO of the new, Dallas-based leaguethat will serve 646 credit unions.

“It's an honor to have been selected to lead this organization,”Ensweiler said in a prepared statement. “With the combinedtalent, knowledge and resources of our three states, we areenthusiastic about enhancing member services for our credit unionsso they can better serve their members.”

The new league will operate state capital satellite offices inLittle Rock, Oklahoma City and Austin, primarily to promote andprotect the interests of the credit union movement in the statelegislatures. Each office will have its own president.

“This is truly an exciting day for the credit union movement,”said Dwayne Ashcraft, president/CEO of the $68 million ArkansasSuperior Federal Credit Union in Warren, Ark., who is also a boarddirector of the Cornerstone Credit Union League. “These pastseveral years of working together have proven productive andfruitful, which is a good indication of what's to come in thispartnership.”The credit unions in each state were notified at theirannual league meetings in 2012 that the three leagues were discussing a consolidationproposal.

On Dec. 17, the boards of the three leagues announced theirintention to pursue consolidation into a single regionalorganization. However, the state leagues initially began discussingthe possibility of a merger in 2009.

Many in the credit union industry viewed the consolidation ofthe leagues as inevitable because of the many mergers that areoccurring among credit unions across the country. With lessdues-paying credit union members, it becomes increasingly difficultfor smaller leagues such as Arkansas and Oklahoma to keep up withrising costs and to deliver the products and services credit unionsneed.

The member credit unions from the three leagues voted to approvethe consolidation this spring.

In addition to Cornerstone, a proposed merger of the creditunion leagues of the Carolinas is under way.

The boards of directors of the SouthCarolina Credit Union League and North Carolina Credit UnionLeague voted in May to recommend that their member creditunions approve consolidation of the two leagues. The membercredit unions are expected to vote on the merger question bySeptember.

A wave of league consolidations began in 2007 when the North andSouth Dakota Credit Union Leagues formed the Credit UnionAssociation of the Dakotas.

Later, the Maryland and Washington, D.C., leagues combined, asdid the Arizona, Colorado and Wyoming credit union leagues underthe Mountain West Credit Union Association, the Alabama and Floridacredit union leagues merged under the League of Southeastern CreditUnions, and the Oregon and Washington credit union leaguesconsolidated under the Northwest Credit Union Association.