The NCUA approved 23 mergers in 18 states in July, bringing the total number of approved mergers to 155 for 2013.

Four of July's mergers occurred in California and all but one of the credit unions had assets of less than $50 million, according to the agency's monthly Insurance Activity Report.

Sixteen of the small credit unions merged with larger counterparts to expand services to members, while only one merged because it was in poor financial condition and two consolidated due to the “inability to obtain officials” or were unable to find a new CEO, according to the NCUA report. 

One credit union merged because it lost its sponsor, one consolidated due to lost or declining membership, one merged because of lack of growth and one consolidated with a state-chartered credit union, the report said.

The $7.3 million Delta Wye FCU in Dorchester, Mass., which merged citing poor financial condition, posted a net worth of only 2.60% in 2012 and 3.06% on June 30, according to NCUA financial performance reports.

The credit union, which was chartered in 1961 by the Electrical Workers Local 103 and served 1,789 members, consolidated with the $85.6 million River Works CU in Lynn, Mass.

Over the past five years, Delta Wye had seen a gradual decline in its loan and investment income, though it posted slight increases in its fee income. The credit union's loan income had fallen from $291,750 in 2008 to $257,035 in 2012, while investment income dropped from $132,993 in 2012 to $44,217 in 2008, according to NCUA financial performance reports. Over the past three years, the credit union posted total net income losses of more than $427,000.

One of the smallest credit unions to merge was the $1.4 million Angelus Can Employees FCU in Los Angeles, after its corporate sponsor shut down the Pneumatic Scale Angelus plant in November 2012, laying off 111 steel workers and shipping those jobs to a factory in Ohio, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Though the plant has been running since 1910, the credit union wasn't chartered until 1963 and served only 226 members when it consolidated with the $407 million Vons Employees FCU in El Monte, Calif.

Another very small credit union, the $2.8 million Harper & Row, Keystone Employees FCU in Throop, Pa., merged because it was seeing its membership dwindle for more than 10 years. In December 2002, the credit union was serving 1,282 members. By June 30 of this year, it had only 832 members, according to Callahan & Associates.

The $3.5 million Lima Ohio Postal Employees FCU in Lima, Ohio, cited lack of growth for its reason to merge with the $27 million Topmark FCU also in Lima.

In nearly all of the Lima Ohio Postal Employees FCU's financial performance numbers were below peer averages, including loan yield, return on average assets, non-interest income and net margin, though its cost of funds and operating expenses were lower than peer averages, according to NCUA financial performance reports. Chartered in 1936, the credit union served only 504 members.

Other mergers included the $56 million Security One FCU in Arlington, Texas, into the $763 million Texas Trust CU in Mansfield, Texas; the $42 million Carepoint FCU in Anaheim, Calif., into the $807 million Financial Partners CU in Downey, Calif.; the $40.6 million NEO FCU in Miami, Okla., into the $1.3 billion TTCU Credit Union in Tulsa, Okla., the $31 million Fort Bragg Community FCU in Fort Bragg, Calif., into the $135 million Mendo Lake CU in Ukiah, Calif.; and the $20 million Kilowatt CU of Madison, Wis., into the $195 million Heartland CU in Madison, Wis.