Affinity Group officials said like other small credit unions, St. Cletus found the marketplace tough competition. Merger discussions began a year ago.

“It was actually one of our employees dealing with one of theirs coming to one of our training seminars that started it all,” said Carma Peters, chief operating officer at the suburban Detroit credit union.

St. Cletus, with a community charter but a church parish as sponsor, has 1,600 members.

Peters said the St. Cletus office will retain its name under the merger under the “as a part of” Affinity brand.

The Warren credit union will also retain representation on the Affinity Group board, said Peters. St, Cletus will be the first Affinity Group branch in Macomb County. Affinity has FOM covering Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Monroe and Livingston counties.

Affinity Group, said Peters, is currently having talks with at least two other Michigan credit unions “but we are not in a position to discuss that,”

In a formal statement, Peters, said, however, Affinity Group is “always open to begin a conversation with credit unions to determine if a partnership is in the best interest of both organizations.”

The 20,500-member Affinity Group said it has merged five other credit unions in recent years.