Florida Baptist Credit Union President/CEO Leonard Murray said compliance costs for his small, $24 million credit union led to its merger agreement with the $718 million First Florida Credit Union.
As he prepared for an annual meeting with board members and the credit union's members Thursday, Murray said his credit union's challenges persisted as the institution continued to rebound after the financial crisis.
"When you have six people and you are splitting responsibilities, it's hard to stay on top of serving members and taking care of all the safety and soundness," Murray said in an interview with CU Times. "And on top of that, [you have to] deal with the immense amount of regulations, which continue to expand."
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Murray said he anticipated questions about the merger agreement at the board meeting, but expected an overall agreement that the merger is in the best interests of the credit union's members.
"It's just a challenge at this size to really be able to be competitive with all the services," he said.
Members of the Jacksonville, Fla.-based credit union will merge into First Florida, which serves all Southern Baptist churches and their members – more than 2,000, according to Murray.
With 13 branches, First Florida will be well-positioned to provide more services to members compared to those offered through Florida Baptist's single branch, Murray said. Members will be able to take advantage of the expanded footprint offered by First Florida, as well as loan products not currently offered by the small institution.
After the merger, Murray and his six Florida Baptist employees will remain at the merged credit union.
"It's kind of sad," Murray said of the announcement, as the institution recently celebrated its 30th year in business.
"It's God's will," he added. "We need to move forward and do what's right for the members. I will feel better after this merger is done because the members will be better served with more functions and features."
The merger still must be approved by members of Florida Baptist, as well as the NCUA and the Office of Financial Regulation.
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