HAWTHORNE, Calif. – Approval by the National Credit Union Administration of the merger between Western Federal Credit Union and TRW Systems Federal Credit Union stands in stark contrast to another credit union's attempt at a major merger years earlier. NCUA received accolades from officials at both Western and TRW Systems for the "professionalism" and "cooperation" they received from the agency, which approved the merger request in 54 days. In 1994, however, a planned three-way merger between Patelco Credit Union in San Francisco, Oregon's First Technology Federal Credit Union and Seattle Telco Federal Credit was scrapped due to delays by the NCUA in considering the proposal, according to news reports at the time. The application had been submitted in August 1994 and was withdrawn by Patelco and First Technology eight months later. Seattle Telco had pulled its application in December 1994, which also cited delays in getting the proposal reviewed. At the time, that merger would have created the 10th largest credit union in the United States with assets of $1.4 billion. -

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