The membership of REALTORS Federal Credit Union has agreed to merge the nation's first virtual credit union into the $2.2 billion Northwest FCU of Herndon, Va.

The merger of the 3-year-old, $75 million REALTORS FCU was approved Friday at the National Association of REALTORS annual meeting in Washington and will be effective in 90 days, the credit union's board chairman said Monday.

Martin Edwards, who heads up Edwards Investments in Memphis, Tenn., also said there were several other suitors for the 7,000 members REALTORS FCU.

“I can't discuss that but I can say that Northwest had any number of advantages including shared branching and its own interest in building a virtual operation and so this looked like the best opportunity for us,” Edwards said.

The credit union has lost money since it was opened in the spring of 2009.

Edwards echoed Jane Pannier, the REALTORS CEO who is slated to take a management post in Northwest following the merger, in saying that the early losses taken by the suburban Maryland credit union were expected as it built a platform to reach the 1.2 million members of the national trade group.

“I did spend time studying what other credit unions could offer and being impressed with the management team at Northwest,” Edwards added, noting that Northwest's offices are within blocks of the NAR headquarters.

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