Ripples of Credit Union Merger Felt in Local Market
by October 26, 2015 12:00 am 115 views
Two financial organizations in Michigan announced Oct. 14 their intent to merge, creating one of the largest credit unions in the country.
The merger of Lake Michigan Credit Union and United Federal Credit Union would create a credit union with about 500,000 members, more than $6 billion in total assets and more than $8 billion in its mortgage-service portfolio.
The combined organization will employ 1,400 people in 78 locations across seven states.
UFCU has five branches in the state and is the largest credit union in Northwest Arkansas. In addition to its four branches in the River Valley, the company expanded its Arkansas footprint March 16 when it opened a branch in Springdale, inside the Walmart Supercenter at the Elm Springs Road exit.
UFCU will change its name to United Credit Union when the merger is complete and both credit unions are consolidated under Lake Michigan’s state charter.
LMCU manages a little more than $4 billion in assets and has 360,000 members.
UFCU, as it exists today, was formed in 2006 by the merger of credit unions originally started by employees of the Whirlpool Corp., headquartered in St. Joseph, Michigan, and Clark Equipment Co., formerly of Buchanan, Michigan. It has total assets of about $2 billion with 140,000 members.
The Northwest Arkansas market consists of about 23,800 members and accounts for roughly $263 million of UFCU’s $2 billion in assets.