RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif. — CO-OP Shared Branch has overtaken Bank of America in number of branches, and now is the third-largest network of financial institution branches in the United States, according to data drawn from the FDIC.
CO-OP Shared Branch is up to 5,341 branches, compared to Bank of America's 5,244 branches. The figures were compiled by CO-OP Financial Services on May 19, and retrieved from the FDIC's "Find Banks" page at www2.fdic.gov/idasp/main.asp.
In addition to the more than 5,300 "live teller" branches, CO-OP Shared Branch includes nearly 1,800 self-service kiosks within select 7-Eleven stores nationwide.
According to CO-OP, its shared branch network is "gaining fast" on the two remaining networks with more branches. Chase has 5,892 branches and Wells Fargo has 6,392, according to the same FDIC source.
CO-OP Shared Branch is a business unit of CO-OP Financial Services, nation's largest credit union service organization in terms of number of credit unions, assets and members.
Stan Hollen, president and CEO of CO-OP Financial Services, hailed what he termed the "significant milestone" of topping 5,300 branches.
"But the sky is still the limit for our industry's unique shared branching concept," Hollen said in a prepared statement. "There are about 1,800 credit unions participating in shared branching, offering convenient branch access to more than 52 million members wherever they may travel in the United States.
"In addition to member convenience, shared branching offers a means of generating revenue and operational efficiencies for participating institutions," Hollen continued. "If all of the nearly 7,000 credit unions in the U.S. were part of shared branching, our locations would number about 21,000."
