RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif. — CO-OP Financial Services and Financial Service Centers Cooperative (FSCC) have entered into an agreement to combine operations and unify the two dominant credit union shared branch networks.
The combination will create a network of more than 4,300 physical branch location, plus 2,200 more Vcom kiosk locations at 7-Eleven stores. More than 1,700 credit unions participate in shared branching between the two CUSOs, with some significant overlap among participating credit unions.
The two companies cited greater efficiencies in branding, technology and administrative costs, along with ³enhanced patron dividends for network participants,² in explaining the merger.
Under the terms of the agreement, FSCC President/CEO Sarah Canepa Bang will join CO-OP as president and COO of FSCC, and as chief strategy officer of CO-OP Shared Branching.
Canepa-Bang told Credit Union Journal the idea of merging has been informally discussed for 10 years, but had gotten much more serious over the past year.
CO-OP Financial Services CEO Stan Hollen said the goal of the combination is to significantly expand shared branching within credit unions, noting there are more than 17,000 total CU branches in the country. ³We already have more ATMs than Bank of America, and there is no reason credit unions shouldn¹t have more branches, as well,² said Hollen.
FSCC shareholder credit unions will likely vote on the proposed merger during the first week of December. Both Hollen and Canepa-Bang said the goal is to close the deal by year-end, if not sooner.
