Consumers Credit Union opened a new branch Oct 15 in Galesburg, Mich., about 9 miles east of Kalamazoo.

The general narrative about branches is that they’ve been growing at credit unions, while they’ve been shrinking at banks.

But that was only true for the past five years, and might very well change in the next year or so.

To be more specific, the FDIC counts for June 30 showed banks expanded their branch counts by 1.5% per year from 1994 to 2009, when they peaked at 99,525. Then the counts fell by 1.3% per year from 2009 to 2019.

NCUA branch counts for credit unions quickly available to CU Times showed those counts were falling about 0.6% per year from 2011 to 2019.

Then the pandemic story kicked in: Credit unions showed a relatively large drop in branch counts in 2020 followed by slow gains that have allowed them to reach parity with 2019 counts this year.

Credit unions lost 2.1% of branches in 2020, while banks had a milder loss of 1.6%.

But while credit unions began recovering, branch shedding increased at banks to 3.8% in 2021. The shedding has continued but it had tapered down to a mere 0.8% loss for the 12 months ending in June.

At credit unions, the branch count grew 0.5% to 21,965 in June.

If you look at the trend lines for those percentage changes, it suggests there will soon be little difference between banks and credit unions.

Meanwhile, CU Times continues tracking credit union branch construction.

Affinity Plus Federal Credit Union of Saint Paul, Minn. ($4.5 billion in assets, 286,493 members) announced Oct. 20 it had begun building a second branch in Albert Lea, about 100 miles south of Saint Paul and 10 miles north of the Iowa border.

The branch at 1707 East Main Street, which is scheduled to open in the summer of 2026, represented a $2.5 million investment.

It followed the credit union’s Oct. 1 acquisition of the Albert Lea-based City and County Employees Federal Credit Union (CCEFCU), which added 1,600 members. The new branch is about three miles east of City and County’s sole office at 1719 W Main St.

NCUA data showed Affinity Plus had 35 branches and other offices on June 30, four more than a year earlier.

In other branch news:

  • Consumers Credit Union of Kalamazoo, Mich. ($2.5 billion in assets, 148,867 members) opened a new branch Oct 15 at 84 West Michigan Avenue in Galesburg, about nine miles east of Kalamazoo. “This office fills a gap in local banking access and reflects our commitment to meeting the needs of communities where other institutions have scaled back,” President/CEO Scott Sylvester said. It had 33 branches on June 30, four more than a year earlier.
  • First Commerce Credit Union of Tallahassee, Fla. ($1.1 billion in assets, 71,095 members) announced Oct. 6 that it has opened a branch in Panama City — its first in Bay County. It had 13 branches across north Florida and south Georgia on June 30, unchanged from a year earlier.
  • First Harvest Credit Union of Camden, N.J. ($449.9 million in assets, 47,494 members) announced Oct. 23 that it has opened its branch at 6 Haddonfield-Berlin Road in Voorhees, 12 miles southeast of Camden. “As we celebrate 85 years of service in Camden County this year, we’re proud to deepen our commitment to the community with our new and more convenient Voorhees location,” President/CEO Mike Dinneen said. It had seven branches on June 30, two less than a year earlier.
  • Solarity Credit Union of Yakima, Wash. ($814 million in assets, 47,445 members) announced Oct. 20 it had opened a branch at Moses Lake, about 100 miles northeast of Yakima. Yakima, 140 miles southeast of Seattle and 200 miles southwest of Spokane. It had four branches on June 30, three less than a year earlier.
  • United Heritage Credit Union of Austin, Texas ($1.6 billion in assets, 81,275 members) announced Oct. 16 that it has begun building a branch to open next spring at 8715 West Parmer Lane in Austin. “This location marks an important step in expanding our reach to better serve members in the growing North Austin community,” the credit union said. It had 11 branches on June 30, unchanged from a year earlier.
  • Virginia Federal Credit Union of Richmond ($7 billion in assets, 493,643 members) is opening a new, 3,500-square-foot branch this month in the new Courthouse Landing development near the Chesterfield County courthouse and government center about 13 miles south of downtown Richmond. It will replace an existing branch less than a mile away.

Virginia Federal Credit Union opening a replacement branch this month near the Chesterfield County courthouse 13 miles south of Richmond.

“Branch locations are a vital way we serve members and strengthen our connection to the communities where they live and work,” President/CEO Chris Shockley said. “At VACU, we’re proud to deliver a member experience that features not only best-in-class digital banking solutions but also the reassurance, convenience and peace of mind that comes from having a nearby branch with knowledgeable staff ready to help.”

It had ad 43 branches on June 30, 20 more than a year earlier.

Contact Jim DuPlessis at JDuPlessis@cutimes.com.

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