Credit unions in Northeast Georgia merge

Habersham Federal Credit Union in Clarksville, Ga., has merged into HALLCO Community Credit Union in Gainesville, Ga.

The merger took effect Friday after the membership of the $24 million-asset Habersham FCU previously approved the transaction. Integration is expected to take several months.

All Habersham FCU staffers will retain their jobs and members will gain access to the $96 million-asset HALLCO Community’s four branches, along with increased product offerings such as mobile banking with remote deposit, online lending, HELOCs and more.

A notice on the Habersham FCU website called the transaction “more like a partnership than a traditional merger,” and indicated HALLCO Community would also be rebranding once the process is completed, but did not indicate what the combined institution’s new name would be.

“We’re simply two financially stable credit unions teaming up to become one of the best community-based credit unions the State of Georgia has ever seen for the benefit of our members,” the notice read.

HALLCO Community's first-quarter earnings have been positive for the last three years, while Habersham posted net income of more than $54,000 for Q1, an improvement over the same time each of the last two years when it was losing money or barely profitable.