NCUA data released this month showed the total count of branches, headquarters and other credit union locations was 21,961 as of Sept. 30. That’s an increase of 47 branches from June to September — the biggest three-month gain since the second quarter of 2023, when credit unions’ net count grew by 53 branches. But it follows a drop of 14 branches in this year’s second quarter.

All four major regions made a net gain of at least one branch from June to September, but the biggest gain was 29 branches in the South, including 15 in Texas. Nationwide, the credit union branch count fell by 449 (-2%) from December 2019 to December 2020 during the pandemic. and since then has made a net gain of 395 branches.

The overseas branch count last dropped from 52 in December 2019 to 51 in March 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic began. It had remained at 51 through June.

Back in Columbia — at the center of South Carolina — Jenny Shields, Self-Help’s director of public and media relations, said all staff are moving to the new downtown location and no jobs will be lost.

One of the closed branches was located six miles from downtown on a former retail corridor where many stores are now closed. The other was less than a mile away from the new location in the “Federal Building” downtown that is difficult for the public to enter and nearby parking was restricted after the 9/11 terrorist attacks of 2001. The credit union plans to have an ATM in the building early next year.

“At one time, the branch at the Federal building only served Federal employees,” Shields said. “Now it has a wider range of membership making the new location downtown more accessible to its broader base.”

Shields said the moves were motivated by a need to have a branch with easier access. “Better parking and a more convenient, downtown location should make it easier for members who are not federal employees to be able to access the branch,” she said.

In May, Self-Help announced plans to over the next two years to open its first branch in Georgia and two branches in Charleston, S.C. NCUA data showed the Atlanta branch that opened last summer raised Self-Help CU’s total locations to 39 at Sept. 30.

Shields said the Charleston branches will open next year. NCUA data showed Self-Help’s other three branches in South Carolina are in Greenville, in the western part of the state closer to the mountains.

In other branch news:

• Ocean Financial Federal Credit Union of Oceanside, N.Y. ($374.2 million in assets, 14,296 members) announced Monday it opened its first mini branch this month. The branch is located at Molloy University in Rockville Centre, N.Y., two miles north of Oceanside on Long Island. The branch is staffed four days a week by student workers and includes an ATM. Ocean Financial had three branches on Sept. 30, unchanged from a year earlier.
• Evolve Federal Credit Union of El Paso, Texas ($324.9 million in assets, 14,667 members) announced Nov. 22 that it has opened a micro branch in Las Cruces, N.M., 47 miles north of El Paso, and plans to open another there by 2026. The Las Cruces location that opened Sept. 16 matches the design of the credit unions’ three micro branches in El Paso: Each has two ITMs inside the building and one to two people working on the drive-thru side. Evolve had 10 branches on Sept. 30, unchanged from a year earlier.
• Americu Credit Union of Rome, N.Y. ($2.7 billion in assets, 167,171 members) announced Dec. 5 that it plans to open a branch next spring in Fulton, N.Y., 60 miles west of Rome and 70 miles east of Rochester. It is the credit union’s first branch in Oswego County near Lake Ontario in Upstate New York. Americu had 19 branches on Sept. 30, unchanged from a year earlier.
• Affinity Plus Federal Credit Union of Saint Paul, Minn. ($4.2 billion in assets, 273,913 members) announced Dec. 4 that it has opened a new branch this month in Shakopee, Minn. 35 miles southwest of St. Paul, and plans to open more branches in 2025. A news release said the 3,500-square-foot Shakopee location serves nearly 12,000 members and is part of a broader expansion plan that includes additional branches to open next year, including a branch in Hopkins, 20 miles west of St. Paul. The credit union’s statewide footprint now includes 33 branches.
• Michigan State University Federal Credit Union of East Lansing, Mich. ($8.2 billion in assets, 374,591 members) opened a new branch Dec. 2 at the University of Michigan hospital in Lansing. MSUFCU had 30 branches on Sept. 30, seven more than a year earlier and five more than in June.
• One Detroit Credit Union of Detroit ($64.3 million in assets, 12,267 members) announced Monday that it has opened a mini-branch in the city of Inkster, 15 miles west of downtown Detroit. It is the first bank or credit union branch in Inkster in seven years and the first branch there for One Detroit.

“We are honored to bring our mission of credible, fair, and reasonably priced financial services to Inkster,” Powell said “We are committed to meeting the community’s needs and fostering financial empowerment for individuals and families.”

One Detroit had three branches on Sept. 30, unchanged from a year earlier
Powell will take over in January when President/CEO Hank Hubbard retires after 34 years with the credit union.