"After careful consideration, the board of directors and I agree that merging with Langley will bring tremendous value to our members, provide more opportunities for employees, and allow us to have a greater impact on the school community and local communities we serve," Clark said. "Together we will continue to help improve our members' financial lives while still honoring the history of our organization."

Virginia Beach Schools FCU had 30 full-time employees and one part-time employee as of March 31 at its headquarters and a branch in Virginia Beach. Langley has 579 full-time employees at 20 branches in the Tidewater area of eastern Virginia, including three in Virginia Beach.

Tom Ryan, president/CEO of Langley, said the agreement follows many months of discussions.

"This merger provides a much greater presence across Hampton Roads and will deliver enhanced convenience and other significant benefits for members and for the communities we serve." Ryan said.

Virginia Beach Schools FCU's net income fell 52.9% to $234,048 last year. ROA for 2020 was 0.23%, down 30 basis points. First-quarter net income was $117,870 with ROA of 0.42%, up 22 bps.

Its net worth ratio was 7.19% as of March 31, down 92 bps from a year earlier.

Langley's net worth ratio was 9.28% on March 31, down 91 bps. Its 2020 net income fell 31.3% to $21.3 million (ROA 0.63%, down 42 bps). Its first-quarter net income was $8.6 million with ROA of 0.92%, up 89 bps.

Two other mergers were completed Thursday.

In Minnesota, two small credit unions in St. Paul merged: Catholic United Financial Credit Union ($22.4 million in assets, 3,287 members as of March 31) acquired St. Thomas Employee Federal Credit Union ($4 million in assets, 949 members).

The St. Paul credit unions said their merger follows the trend of consolidations in the credit union movement.

Mark Vangsgard, St. Thomas' CFO and vice president for business affairs, said the merger will allow members new online banking, checking and ATM services, as well as share deposit, money market and educational savings accounts, CDs and mortgage referrals. More than 90% of the voting credit union members voted in favor of the merger.

"With the ever-changing demographics and technological expectations of the credit union membership, this timing presented the St. Thomas Employee Federal Credit Union with an opportunity to reach out to a larger credit union that could offer an expanded field of services that are readily available at other credit unions in the metro area," Vangsgard said.

In California, Credit Union of Southern California (CU SoCal) of Whittier, Calif. ($2.1 billion in assets, 124,142 members) acquired Federal Employees West Federal Credit Union of Los Angeles ($12.5 million in assets, 1,483 members), which was undercapitalized after losing money for more than two years.

Federal Employees West had a net worth ratio of 5.52% on March 31, which the NCUA classified as "undercapitalized." A year earlier it was an "adequately capitalized" 6.66%.

Last year it lost $81,813, or a loss on average assets of -0.70%, after losing $77,094 in 2019. In the first quarter, it lost $18,594, or ROA of -0.61%, up 33 bps.

It had three employees at its sole office in Los Angeles as of March 31, and CU SoCal said those employees would continue in their roles under CU SoCal.

The NCUA approved 33 mergers in the first quarter of 2021. The largest was Deere Employees Credit Union of Moline, Ill. ($1.4 billion in assets, 42,937 members) acquiring Infinity Federal Credit Union of Portland, Maine ($336.3 million in assets, 18,389 members).