A branch sale between two Illinois credit unions will add thousands of new members for one credit union and bring new financial opportunities for the small community of Danville, Ill.

Officials with the Bannockburn, Ill.-based Great Lakes Credit Union ($1.4 billion in assets, 94,826 members) announced last week that they are expanding into Central Illinois and Western Indiana with the purchase of the Moline, Ill.-based Vibrant Credit Union’s branch located in Danville, which sits on the Illinois-Indiana border.

Financial details of the branch purchase were not disclosed.

According to the announcement on Nov. 7, the “strategic purchase” of the Vibrant Credit Union ($1 billion in assets, 45,710 members) branch will result in GLCU acquiring nearly 12,000 accounts, $66 million in deposits and $22 million in loans.

"We are thrilled to expand our footprint into Central Illinois and Western Indiana. We look forward to welcoming members from Vibrant's Danville branch to GLCU," Steve Bugg, GLCU's President/CEO, said. "This expansion not only enhances our membership base but also strengthens our ability to give back, ensuring that we can provide valuable resources to those who need them most in Northern and Central Illinois along with three counties in Western Indiana."

Vibrant members in Danville will gain access to GLCU’s products and services. GLCU did not specify when its systems would be up and running in the Danville branch, but officials indicated its digital banking, AI chatbot, interest-bearing checking accounts and other products and services will be coming to the nearly 30,000 people living in and around the Danville area soon.

The branch-buy announcement came five months after encurage financial network credit union (EFNCU) merged into GLCU. GLCU gained nearly 14,000 members from that merger, most of whom live in the Chicago area.