APPLE VALLEY, Minn. — One of the "benefits" Wings Financial is offering members of Continental Federal Credit Union is $200 each should the merger ever be approved.
As parts of its campaign to encourage Continental members to ask Continental's board for a vote to initiate a mail ballot expressing interest in merging, the $1.6 billion Wings Financial has said it will pay $200 to Continental's more than 25,000 members for a total amount of roughly $5 million. Should Continental decide to match that amount, the CU said it could be damaging.
"If Continental FCU paid you an amount from their reserves similar to that proposed by Wings, we believe Continental FCU would damage their earnings power and therefore have to charge even higher loan rates, pay lower dividend rates, charge higher fees, and/or reduce service," said Wings Financial on its continentalwings.com Web site.
Continental members "may enjoy a short term gain while gaining long term costs" but a merger with Wings Financial "gives both the short term gain and valuable long-term advantages," according to the site.
The $200 payments sound more like a quick fix, said Tom Glatt, president/CEO of Continental.
"The $200 offer pales in comparison to what we're rolling out," Glatt said. "We're following through on our promises."
Glatt said the CU has recently expanded its ATM network, will expand its shared branching network this month and will open three new branches in Philadelphia, Houston and New Jersey. A new money market account is poised for rollout soon and the CU will partner with XCU Capital, a CU-owned broker/dealer and in May.
"We're investing in our members' futures as well as their present. This is not a one time shot for us," said Glatt, adding Wings Financial has "tried to be a distraction."
"We're going to roll things out as planned," Glatt said. "We have done everything were supposed to do. The board has voted no. We're about improving lives." –msamaad@cutimes.com
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