NAPERVILLE, Ill. – Member Access Illinois, the 28th ranked regional EFT Network, has reached an agreement to join forces with the CO-OP Network. "This is not a merger or acquisition, but a network to network sharing agreement," said George Feigle, Executive Vice President and COO , Illinois Credit Union League Service Corporation, operator of Member Access Illinois. "About six months ago CO-OP approached us and we found that our philosophies are very similar in that our vision of someday any CU cardholder may go to a CU-owned machine and know he or she won't incur surcharges. I believe that will give the CU movement a competitive advantage and this action brings us one step closer to that." Under the agreement, MAI will become a member and shareholder of the Ontario, California-based CO-OP Network, which currently has 122 ATMs in Illinois. An agreement with Access Cash International will increase CO-OP Network ATMs by an additional 800 terminals by the end of February 2002. MAI serves 251 member credit unions and has 315 ATMs in 15 states. CO-OP Network, ranked fourth regional EFT network, serves 791 member credit unions, has nearly 12,000 ATMs in 49 states and serves 9 million cardholders.