AUGUSTA, Maine — KV Federal Credit Union held two meetings last week to take some questions from the membership and explain why it is looking to merge with Kennebec Savings Bank.

Even though its board will not officially vote on the proposal until Oct. 14, members of the $51 million KV Federal Credit Union have already started to actively debate whether or not KV should merge with the local mutual bank.

The conversation has touched on whether the credit union needed to merge at all or, if it did need to merge, why not merge with a credit union. Members have also been interested in discussing what will happen to their equity, which the credit union has estimated at roughly $600 per member in press reports; whether KV executives who continue on with the merged bank stand to benefit from the merger; and how the merged bank will compete on interest rates for saving products and loans.