NCUA Approves 33 Mergers in the First Quarter of 2023, Trending Downward

The NCUA approved 33 mergers in the first quarter, according to the federal agency’s Q1 Merger Activity and Insurance Report released last week.

The number of Q1 consolidations declined from 41 mergers during the first quarter of 2022 and 35 consolidations at the end of last year’s fourth quarter.

In addition to the 27 credit unions that are expected to merge for expanded services, including   two billion-dollar financial cooperatives, three credit unions are merging because of their poor financial condition and three credit unions are consolidating because of their inability to obtain officials.

The largest credit union mergers in the first quarter of 2023 were:

• The $1.8 billion Northwest Community Credit Union in Eugene, Ore., into the $2.2 billion Twinstar Credit Union in Olympia, Wash. (Expanded services).
• The $1 billion RTN Federal Credit Union in Waltham, Mass., with the $1.3 billion Merrimack Valley Federal Credit Union in Lawrence, Mass. (Expanded services).
• The $200 million Powerco Credit Union in Atlanta, into the $3.5 billion APCO Employees Federal Credit Union in Birmingham, Ala. (Expanded services).
• The $66.9 million First United Credit Union in Grandville, Mich., with the $164 million North Central Area Credit Union in Houghton Lake, Mich., (Expanded Services).
• The $50.8 million First Connecticut Credit Union in Wallingford, Conn., with the $112 million Finex Credit Union also in East Hartford, Conn. (Expanded services).

There are 22 credit unions with less than $50 million in assets that are expected to merge for expanded services, the NCUA report showed.

Three credit unions that received the green light to merge because of poor financial conditions were:

• The $16.2 million Greater Salem Employees Federal Credit Union in Salem, Mass., into the $346 million St. Jean’s Credit Union also in Lynn, Mass.
• The $11.9 million Woodlawn Federal Credit Union in Pawtucket, R.I., with the $3.4 billion Navigant Credit Union in Smithfield, R.I.
• The $6.3 million Richmond City Employees Credit Union in Richmond, Ind., into the $1.6 billion Kemba Credit Union of West Chester, Ohio.

Three credit unions that got the OK to consolidate because of their inability to obtain officials included:

• The $9.6 million Northwest Louisiana Federal Credit Union in Shreveport, La., with the $1.3 billion Red River Employees Federal Credit Union in Texarkana, Texas.
• The $3.2 million Independence Credit Union in Independence, Mo., into the $198 million United Consumers Credit Union also in Independence.
• The $52,859 Beulah Federal Credit Union in Massapequa, N.Y., with the $81.5 million Consumers Credit Union in Brooklyn, N.Y.

READ MORE: The full Q1 Merger Activity and Insurance Report.

Editor’s note: The NCUA’s merger approval does not necessarily indicate whether members of the merging credit union approved the consolidation.