Ken McCarthy

Municipal is one of two credit unions to be released from conservatorship this year. It's no small feat — the last time it happened was in 2016 — but the National Credit Union Administration may have a hard time preventing other troubled institutions from being shuttered or acquired.

The deal for Horizon Community Bank in Arizona is the fifth instance of a credit union agreeing to buy a bank this year, and the second such deal for the Phoenix credit union, which bought Pinnacle Bank in 2019.

Citing customers’ increased adoption of digital services over the past two years, banks are shrinking their physical presence, while also renovating the locations they keep — but credit unions are bucking the trend.

The Augusta, Maine, credit union has promoted its executive vice president, Stephen Wallace, to succeed H. Tucker Cole, who plans to retire in June.

Here is a rundown of the regulatory, diversity, competitive and other challenges that executives explored at the Credit Union National Association's annual gathering in Washington.

The $837 million-asset Commerce State is one of the largest banks ever to agree to be sold to a credit union.

The National Credit Union Administration is following up on earlier disbursements totaling more than $1.8 billion to address the failure of four institutions in the wake of the financial crisis.

Robins Financial Credit Union is acquiring the $430 million-asset Persons Banking Co. The deal, announced Monday, comes less than a week after Georgia’s Own Credit Union in Atlanta said it is buying Vinings Bank in Smyrna.

The Credit Union National Association kicked off its first in-person governmental affairs conference in two years with members sharing concerns about data-privacy rules, cryptocurrency, prospects for industry growth and the potential economic fallout of war in Europe.

The $1.6 billion-asset institution says it has simply outgrown its old moniker.