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Officials from two Southern California credit unions just 15 miles apart stated they plan on merging in 2024 and have already cleared the two important hurdles of receiving consent from regulators and board members.
On Friday, Los Alamitos, Calif.-based Southland Credit Union ($1.1 billion in assets, 64,822 members) and the Long Beach, Calif.-based Allied Healthcare Federal Credit Union ($71 million in assets, 5,026 members) made the announcement and plan on completing the merger by May 1, 2024, subject to member approval.
"Both Southland and Allied Healthcare share the common goal of empowering our members to achieve their financial goals," Southland Credit Union Board Chair Bradley Silcox said. "This merger is a perfect fit as both credit unions have a shared history serving health care employees."
Allied Healthcare Federal Credit Union Board Chair Larry Matejka added, "This merger will result in a wider variety of competitive services, products and conveniences. Beyond these immediate benefits, this merger will combine two established organizations that share similar values and a commitment to their members, people and culture."
According to the credit unions, if members approve of the merger, the newly-merged credit union will function under the Southland name and all Allied Healthcare staff and branches will be retained.
Southland's current president/CEO, Thomas Lent, will be the leader of the merged organization. Allied Healthcare CEO Monica Lopez will become an SVP and report to Lent, according to the announcement.
If approved, the new credit union will have assets of more than $1.2 billion and serve more than 69,000 members with 12 branch locations.
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Michael Ogden
Editor-in-Chief at CU Times. To connect, email at [email protected]. As Editor-in-Chief of CU Times since 2016, Michael Ogden has led the editorial team in all aspects of content strategy and execution, including the creation of the publication’s exclusive and proprietary research database of the credit union industry’s economic landscape. Under Michael’s leadership, CU Times has successfully shifted to an all-digital editorial product with new focuses on the payments, fraud, lending and regulatory beats. Most recently, he introduced a data-focused editorial product for subscribers that breaks down credit union issues into hard data, allowing for a deeper and more factual narrative for readers. In 2024, he launched the "Shared Accounts With CU Times" podcast, which offers a fresh, inside-the-newsroom perspective through interviews with leaders from the credit union industry and the regulatory world. He dives into pressing credit union issues, while revealing the personalities working behind-the-scenes to push the credit union world forward. His background includes years as a radio and TV anchor/reporter and a public relations and digital/social media manager, where he covered the food and music industries, as well as cooperatives and credit unions. Over the years, he has launched numerous exclusive video and podcast series, including a successful series of interactive backstage interviews with musicians at music festivals, showcasing his social media and live streaming production skills.
