Members at St. Paul-Based CU Vote to Merge with SPIRE

It's the second credit union to agree to merge with SPIRE in the past four months.

Saint Paul, Minn. (Source: AdobeStock)

A small credit union in St. Paul, Minn. announced Friday that its members voted to merge with the $1.9 billion SPIRE Credit Union, located just a few miles to the northwest in Falcon Heights.

In a joint statement released Friday, 96.4% of members from HBI Employees Credit Union (HBICU) agreed to merge with SPIRE effective April 1, 2022.

“HBI Credit Union is excited to partner with SPIRE Credit Union,” said HBICU President/CEO Karen Fleming. “The Board of Directors, management and staff, unanimously agreed that SPIRE Credit Union was the future for our members. Dan Stoltz, CEO of SPIRE Credit Union cares about the credit union movement, the members, the employees and the community. SPIRE has a full suite of products and services with competitive rates and 21 locations in Minnesota, plus 5,500 locations to serve our HBICU members throughout the United States.”

SPIRE President/CEO Dan Stoltz said, “We are excited to serve and welcome HBICU members to the SPIRE family. Our partnership is a triple win: a win for our members, a win for our communities, and most of all, a big win for our employees.”

Last year, another small Twin Cities-area credit union merged with SPIRE. On Nov. 1, the $11.3 million Midland Co-op Credit Union in Minneapolis merged into SPIRE. Of note, the two credit unions actually began as the same credit union in the 1930s and split into two separate credit unions in 1940. Eighty years later, the two credit unions came back together.

According to NCUA data, SPIRE currently has more than 142,000 members and HBICU has almost 1,000 members with assets totaling $9.5 million.