"The percentage of the total credit union universe involved in mergers is up 65% from where it was in 2000," Dennis Dollar, president/CEO of Dollar Associates, said. "This trend is likely to continue, driven by competitive challenges, compliance burden, regulatory demands and the need for greater economies of scale. While the number may go up or down a little each year, the trend line is well established."

Dollar's Birmingham, Ala.-based firm is currently working on 14 mergers.

"When our phone rings, 60% of the calls are merger-related in some way," he said. "Our projections are that there will be between 4,000 and 5,000 credit unions by the year 2020. Things may settle a little after 2020 as the assimilation takes place, but we are convinced that merger activity is going to continue at a rate close to one per business day."

During the fourth quarter of 2015, the majority of the NCUA-approved 60 mergers were for credit unions with less than $50 million in assets.

Like many small credit unions, the $54.1 million White House FCU endured financial challenges over the last five years.

Its total loans declined from $26 million in 2011 to $21 million in 2015, while its loan income fell from $1.8 million to $1.4 million during the same time period. In four out of the past five years, the credit union posted net income losses. Though the credit union held net worth of 7.27%, its ROAA was -0.19% at the end of 2015, according to NCUA financial performance reports.

Because of these financial constraints, Evan Clark, president/CEO of the $345 million Department of Commerce FCU, noted White House FCU was unable to provide its 6,079 members with mobile banking services.

Once the merger is completed by mid-2016, Clark plans to offer White House FCU members mobile banking and other products to keep them in the fold. The NCUA approved the White House FCU merger for "expanded services."

What's more, Clark plans to keep the credit union's brand intact.

"We're going to change the name from White House Federal Credit Union to White House Credit Union, but we're going to keep that brand because it is a very sexy brand," Clark explained. "People who work at the White House like to use the White House Credit Union credit card and the checking accounts."

Though it's been speculated that some former presidents and vice presidents were members of White House FCU over the years, Clark was not allowed to name them because of privacy laws.

White House FCU's sole branch on F Street in Washington, located about a block away from the executive mansion, will continue to operate, and President/CEO Tina Blackwell will be appointed to vice president of community development.

While the White House FCU merger was one of the bright spots among the mergers approved by the NCUA during the last quarter of 2015, many other credit unions merged due to poor financial condition, underperforming management, lack of growth, dwindling membership and the inability to find a new CEO.

Of the 60 mergers that were approved by the NCUA in the fourth quarter, five led credit unions to close because of poor financial condition. They were the $349,965 Triumph Baptist Federal Credit Union in Philadelphia; the $5.8 million Phone-Co. Credit Union in Chicago; the $35,791 Allen AME Federal Credit Union in Philadelphia; the $26.5 million Montgomery County Credit Union in Dayton, Ohio; and the $6 million Community Trust Credit Union in Apopka, Fla.

Five credit unions received NCUA approval to merge with larger counterparts because they lost their sponsorship. The cooperatives were the $1.9 million Edge Moor Dupont Employees Federal Credit Union in Wilmington, Del.; the $197,820 Alloy Scottdale Credit Union in Scottdale, Pa.; the $495,264 Millwrights/Pile Drivers of Pittsburgh Federal Credit Union in Saltsburg, Pa.; the $3.1 million Robbins & Myers Employees Federal Credit Union in Springfield, Ohio; and the $832,151 S M H Federal Credit Union in Peru, Ill.

The $39.1 million St. Joseph Credit Union in San Antonio was given the OK to merge because of poor management. St. Joseph merged with the $1 billion Firstmark Credit Union, also based in San Antonio, on Oct. 31.

Three credit unions – the $2.3 million Ellwood City Schools Employees Federal Credit Union in Ellwood City, Pa.; the $2.1 million Port Ivory Federal Credit Union in Avenel, N.J.; and the $1.7 million Central Electric Credit Union in Jefferson City, Mo. – got the green light to merge with other credit unions because of lack of growth, according to the NCUA.

Two cooperatives, the $1.4 million A.M. Castle Employees Federal Credit Union in Franklin Park, Ill., and the $85,833 First Baptist Church Credit Union in Cranford, N.J., received the OK to consolidate with other credit unions because of a lost or declining field of membership.

In addition, two credit unions, the $70.1 million Chestnut Run Federal Credit Union in Wilmington, Del., and the $5.3 million Wesley Medical Credit Union in Wichita, Kan., received approvals to merge with other cooperatives because they were unable to find a new CEO, according to the NCUA's Insurance Reports of Activity for the fourth quarter.

While the vast majority of approved mergers were for credit unions with less than $50 million in assets in the fourth quarter, there were two credit unions with more than $100 million in assets that got the green light to consolidate.

The largest approved merger was for the $201 million Pegasus Community Credit Union in Dallas, which merged into the $392 million Neighborhood Credit Union, also based in Dallas. That consolidation was completed on Feb. 1.

The second largest merger approved by the NCUA was for the $133 million Focus Credit Union in Chattahoochee, Fla., which became a part of the $307 million Envision Credit Union in Tallahassee, Fla. That consolidation is expected to be completed this year.

In the fourth quarter, the NCUA approved 42 mergers for "expanded services."

While most mergers swallow small and moderate sized credit unions because of challenges they face in today's regulatory environment and marketplace, there has been more and more discussion among larger credit unions of strategic mergers driven by greater economies of scale and a larger market footprint, according to Dollar.

"Because larger credit unions have more complex operations, a greater number of higher salaried managers, expanded FOMs and often multi-state branches, there are always more issues to be worked out in those mergers," he said. "I don't think anyone should be surprised, however, to hear of more strategic mergers between larger credit unions."

Dollar also said strategic mergers are a topic of analysis at every planning session his company is a part of, and those discussions inevitably lead to more merger discussions over time.

"Most mergers that are explored between larger credit unions get caught up in the operational, staff, board and FOM issues that are the most difficult to overcome," he said. "However, those discussions are taking place more often than in the past between larger credit unions. Many times there will not be a fit at this time, but there may be a fit that emerges later. Strategic mergers among larger credit unions are far from out of the realm of possibility, and our own experience shows that they are under consideration at a number of credit unions."