Small credit unions continue to disappear; Matz says it's unfortunate

ALEXANDRIA, Va.-While the number of merging credit unions was the lowest during the month of August than it has been all year, the credit union community still witnessed the elimination of many small credit unions. Also bucking recent trends, according to NCUA’s Regional Director’s Actions Taken Under Delegation of Authority, two federally insured state chartered credit unions converted to federal credit unions, but none did the reverse. Of the 16 credit union mergers approved in August, 11 credit unions under $5 million in assets were eliminated, according to NCUA’s data. The smallest of the credit unions being merged out of existence resulted from the mergers of Essex Agricultural Federal Credit Union ($470,150 in assets) into $136.7 million Unified Federal Credit Union in Massachusetts; Erie Strayer Employees Federal Credit Union ($97,964) into Erie School Employees Federal Credit Union ($154 million) of Pennsylvania; and C & D Conyers Federal Credit Union ($200,874) into Georgia Power Federal Credit Union ($53 million). “I think that this has become routine for the very small credit unions at some point to merge. It’s unfortunate that it has become routine, and I think its important to keep small credit unions that are thriving in business.but for some credit unions it’s fighting an uphill battle,” NCUA Board Member Deborah Matz commented. She pointed to the agency’s Small Credit Union Program, which provides training, counseling, grants, and other services, as a useful tool for small credit unions to continue business on their own. However, she acknowledged that in the end, it is a business decision. While federal credit unions lost three among their ranks due to mergers, two federally insured state chartered credit unions converted to federal credit unions, NCUA’s data showed. USU Community Credit Union ($82.5 million) in Logan, Utah, and Mountain High Community Credit Union ($7.7 million) of Spanish Fork, Utah, converted to federal charters in August. No federal credit unions converted to state charters. Additionally, 24 credit unions added 32 underserved areas during August for a total of more than 2.6 million potential members. Ten credit unions converted to community charters in August adding a potential member list of nearly 1.7 million in for the month. [email protected]