Local Government FCU & Civic FCU to Tie the Knot
The Raleigh, N.C., CUs that have been connected since Civic FCU was launched in 2018, could merge next month.
Local Government Federal Credit Union of Raleigh, N.C., has had complicated relationships with two other credit unions in town.
Now Local Government ($4 billion in assets, 407,174 members) is splitting with its longtime companion, the mammoth State Employees’ Credit Union (SECU), and plans to hook up formally with the much smaller Civic Federal Credit Union ($119.3 million in assets, 7,678 members).
NCUA approved a plan in June for Local Government to acquire Civic FCU through a merger. A vote by Civic members is scheduled for Sept. 27. If approved, the merger is to be legal Sept. 30 and the conversion completed June 2, 2025. Local Government will drop its name in favor of Civic’s.
A July 12 notice to members of Civic FCU said the board “concluded that the proposed merger is desirable and in the best interests of members because the merger will expand services to the membership; enable a more unified focus on local government; provide greater stability of both credit unions through consolidation; benefit from economies of scale to offer more resources; and provide industry-leading mobile banking, digital services and account features.”
No distribution to Civic FCU members is planned and it said “no individuals received or will receive compensation as a part of this merger.”
Meanwhile, Civic is expanding across North Carolina with 11 branches to open by next year.
Local Government has been using SECU branches and technology since it was founded in 1983, splitting off from SECU to appease disgruntled bankers. But 10 years ago, Local Government decided it needed to become more independent and get out from under some restrictions that went with its tie with SECU.
One step was its founding of Civic FCU in 2018 as an all-digital credit union, appointing Dwayne Naylor as its president/CEO. In 2022, Naylor was promoted to president/CEO of both credit unions.
In 2023, Civic released a “2024+ Strategic Business Plan“ that said Local Government would split from SECU on June 1, 2025, and use Civic’s technology. The word “merger” was not mentioned.
The plan included Civic opening 11 branches across North Carolina in 2024, which was notable because of Civic being “all-digital” and Local Government having only a small presence in Raleigh.
At the time, Civic’s only physical presence was the headquarters it shared with Local Government at 3600 Wake Forest Road in Raleigh, which makes sense because all Civic employees are also Local Government employees. Local Government also has a branch in Raleigh.
The first Civic branch to open was in Asheville in July.
Attempts to reach Naylor for comment were unsuccessful.