The boards of directors for the Idaho Credit Union League and the Northwest Credit Union Association announced a proposed merger agreement Tuesday.

If the merger agreement is approved by member credit unions in Washington, Oregon and Idaho during the summer/fall of next year, it will mark the 11^th league consolidation since 2007. The last league merger was finalized in June 2016 when the Delaware Credit Union League merged into the Cooperative Credit Union Association, which created the industry's first four-state league that also includes Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island.

The merger between the Northwest association and the Idaho league was expected to eventually occur because both organizations signed a two-year strategic alliance earlier this year in which the NWCUA provided management services to ICUL's member credit union. In addition, both organizations participated in  conversations with the understanding that a successful alliance could lead to a formalized merger of the ICUL and its related service corporation into the NWCUA.