SAN DIMAS, Calif. - Financial Service Centers Cooperative, the national shared branching network headquartered on the West Coast, will distribute $415,000 in December to its member credit unions that acquired shared branching transactions in 2001. The payment represents part of the balance of the 2001 patronage still outstanding and is the largest cash payout to date, the organization said. Barring unforeseen circumstances, FSCC expects to proclaim more than $1 million in patronage for 2003, said Sarah Canepa Bang, FSCC's CEO. Bang said FSCC has continued its strong growth, adding relationships with 18 new credit unions across the country since the end of September. Some of the credit unions were already FSCC members and added branches to the shared branching network in different states and one had been an issuing credit union which has since begun acquiring transactions as well, Bang explained. The network has either added or scheduled to added 190 new branches in 2003, a rate 39% above the new branch rate in 2002, Bang said. "As of the end of September we had 522 branches on the FSCC network, soon to be in 22 states and seven countries. It was a mere four years ago when we were in barely six states and thought adding 30 branches was a big deal," she said.