The sign-up of Security represents a milestone for the Colorado association, which said the Texas CU is the first to take advantage of a 2006 bylaw adopted by its board offering full membership to out of state CUs with a branch presence in Colorado.

No other state league is believed to have taken such a step recognizing the growing multi-state footprint of the industry amidst CU mergers and consolidation, said John Dill, the president/CEO of CUAC.

Dill said there are 14 other out-of-state CUs with Colorado operations that have been solicited for membership "and so we hope they will follow Security's lead," said Dill.

Joining CUAO did not come without some internal wrangling within the trade group's leadership. Indeed, some Colorado CEOs complained over the summer that the Texas CU did not deserve membership based on its Colorado track record and market practices particularly in capturing auto loan business.

Security management has vigorously denied such claims and said its civic performance is above reproach.

Refraining from commenting on the dispute, Dill said industry "feuds and frictions" such as Security's quarrel with some other Colorado CUs are not uncommon "particularly when you have overlapping markets."

But frequently those kinds of internal spats can "be overlooked" which is the case "when you think of the whole credit union family," he said.

Those differences can be put aside when the industry faces its many challenges including the ever-present "fight with the banking lobby." On that, "we are unified."

For its part, Security Service said it was eager to contribute to CU advocacy in Colorado through the league and would expect to "have representation at the table" in the form of committee assignments and a possible eventual seat on the CUAC board. Security is a member of the Texas League as well as CUNA and NAFCU among others.

In a prepared release, CUAC said it was "pleased to welcome Security Service into full membership within the Colorado credit union family and that the Colorado movement will be stronger with the addition of Security Service as a full member of the Association."

Said Dill: "I applaud David Reynolds, president/CEO of Security Service and his entire team for their willingness to look beyond the boundaries of their home state league and recognize that our future is one of multi-state operations and therefore multi-state cooperation."

John Worthington, senior vice president at Security, said benefits in belonging underscore a "core value of deep commitment to community service–that commitment is reflected in the thousands of hours our employees volunteer to help charitable and other deserving community organizations, along with in-kind and monetary contributions from Security Service, in every community we serve."

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