RALEIGH, N.C.-With joint leagues already representing more than a dozen states, one inustry insider says the trend of consolidation is here to stay.
"I think we'll continue to see it," said John Radebaugh, president and CEO of the North Carolina CU League, and head of the new Carolinas CU League that will open in January. "I think what will happen is, similar to North Carolina and South Carolina, somebody approaches retirement, and they may work closely with another league and start the conversation. It's usually some type of event like that that triggers the conversation. We'll definitely have some larger leagues that will operate on their own forever, because they have the scale and ability to do that."
Among the states currently served by joint leagues are California and Nevada; Colorado, Wyoming and Arizona; Florida and Alabama, North and South Dakota; and Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas.
The North Carolina-based CEO noted that even as the CU industry continues to consolidate and small credit unions fail or are merged into larger institutions, large CUs are also growing and becoming more complex. Because of that, said Radebaugh, leagues need the increased expertise that consolidation can bring.
But Radebaugh doesn't believe that leagues will ultimately be lager, regional organizations. "It may evolve that way over time naturally, but whether or not everyone will get together strategically, I don't know that that will happen, because you'll have some league boards that want to continue to have their own league."
