Merger Deal to Create Third Largest CU in Virginia

Officials with the $5.1 billion Virginia Credit Union, Inc. headquartered in North Chesterfield, Va., and the $1.6 billion Member One Federal Credit Union announced their plans to merge on Thursday. The proposed merger would create the third largest credit union in Virginia, behind the Vienna, Va.-based Navy Federal Credit Union ($168 billion in assets) and the McLean, Va.-based Pentagon Federal Credit Union ($35 billion in assets).

According to the announcement, the merger must be approved by regulators and an affirmative vote by members of the Richmond, Va.-based Member One. If approved, the merged credit union would serve nearly 500,000 members and employ roughly 1,100 people with a network of 37 branches.

In a statement Thursday, officials said “this merger is between two financially healthy, future focused credit unions committed to providing unparalleled branch and digital access, along with amazing service for the members and the communities they serve. In a highly competitive financial services industry where consumers want things easier and more seamless than ever, this merger positions VACU and Member One to be a leading credit union doing just that.”

VACU President/CEO Chris Shockley said, “This partnership represents the heart of the credit union industry’s cooperative mindset. Fundamentally, credit unions came into existence when people saw an opportunity to band together and pool their financial resources in order to provide access to financial products and services to people who needed them.”

Frank Carter, president/CEO of Member One, added, “When I first sat down with Chris and we started to share our visions for our respective credit unions, everything about partnering together felt right. From the onset, both of our boards of directors have focused on ensuring that together we’d continue to provide the best member, employee and community value.”

Shockley said, “Becoming a larger organization with more locations, more talent and more resources will ultimately result in greater economies of scale, which is a good thing. What becoming larger does not mean, however, is that we sacrifice our mission and our purpose. We would continue to invest in our members, our people and our communities.”

According to details of the proposed merger, Shockley will become president/CEO of the combined organization and Carter would remain with the organization in an executive role until he retires. Details of Carter’s retirement were not given.

The combined credit union statement also noted “that no employees would lose their job and no branch locations would be closed as a result of the merger.”

Officials said they expect the merger of the two credit unions will become legal sometime in 2024.