PONTIAC, Mich. -
Affinity Group Credit Union, Pontiac, Michigan joined with two other credit unions in a friendly merger to achieve economies of scale. The three combined credit unions now have assets of $97 million and can afford a full-time security employee and two staff members that were certified in compliance with NAFCU in human resources.
"Before our merger we didn't have adequate resources for human resources to fight fraud and protect data," said CEO Tom Miller. "When we came together, we are now a lot safer and a lot sounder. Being big is a mindset; a small credit union can be big by thinking big-by leveraging and collaborating as a means to deliver services to members. By participating in a CUSO I have 110 branch locations, I am thinking like a big dog."
CU Resource Group is a CUSO in Arvada, Colo. that provides a business model for small credit unions to work cooperatively to achieve economies of scale in fraud prevention. Although it does not offered this service at this time, there is a possibility for a shared compliance officer, shared compliance owner, shared IT support, business continuity and BSA testing and internal audit in the future.
It is a CUSO of 25 credit owners and CU Association (of Colorado) Service Corp, ranging in asset size from $3 million to $80 million, with the majority of the credit unions less than $25 million in assets.
The key consideration is that credit unions would structure product development for fit needs of small credit unions with a variety of products and services. By themselves, they are small credit unions, but together, they have a combined asset size of $500 million or the seventh largest credit union in Wyoming and Colorado.
