California CU’s Members Approve Change to Federal Charter

The $1.7 billion CoastHills Credit Union’s members and Board of Directors voted to approve the conversion from a state-chartered credit union to a federally-chartered credit union. Officials said the move will give the credit union more geographic space to serve a wider potential membership base.

The announcement from the Santa Maria, Calif.-based CoastHills on Wednesday said the former state charter “limited eligibility to anyone who lives, works, or worships in Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, Ventura and Santa Cruz counties.” With the approval from board members and the credit union membership, CoastHills will operate as a Multiple Common Bond charter, which will allow the credit union “to serve more members and communities through association and employment eligibility.”

The credit union did not provide the voting details from its membership or board members.

“Through expanded eligibility, economies of scale will reduce costs and allow CoastHills to give more back to member-owners,” the credit union statement said. The credit union will continue to have its deposits insured by the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund, which will be operated and managed by the NCUA.

CoastHills President/CEO Paul Cook said, “CoastHills is excited to convert to a federal charter, which will allow us to serve virtually any prospective member. We are dedicated to supporting the Central Coast through exceptional member service, and providing products and services that help our members reach all of their financial goals.  We are always looking for ways to improve so we can give back even more to our member-owners and to our communities, and this conversion will allow us to do just that. Whether our members prefer banking on our state-of-the-art online and mobile banking services, or at their favorite local branch, we are happy to now have the opportunity to serve anyone who is interested in becoming a member of CoastHills.”

The credit union said this change will not result in the closure of any of its 12 branches. The branches are located along the California coast from Paso Robles to the north and Lompoc to the south.

The credit union currently serves 76,901 members, according to the NCUA.