APPLE VALLEY, Minn. -
Where is the value in the merger proposal Wings members? "There are number of benefits to Wings," he offered. "For one thing, it certainly brings diversification of the employee base of our membership, it gives our members access to additional branches, and it allows us to spread our costs among a larger number of people. If we can increase our efficiencies and decrease our operating costs, that's a benefit we can pass on to our members."
Why not build a shared branch with Continental, or join a shared branching network? "What we have found when we have attempted to do that is that other credit unions don't want to share a branch with us because we tend to have better rates and services, and their feeling is, 'Why do I want to compete with that in my own lobby?'" Parish related. "We have looked into joining a shared branching network, but we determined it was too expensive on a per-transaction basis to work with our strategy."
Why not a community charter? A community charter is not feasible for Wings, said Parish, noting the credit union's geographically far-flung membership wouldn't fit into any definition of a "well-defined geographic area."
Is Wings considering or did it consider converting to a mutual savings bank? Yes, a conversion to a bank charter was one of several options the credit union considered several years ago, before it decided that a TIP charter was the best option for its membership. Some have speculated that Wings intends to convert after it has managed to merge with Continental, but Parish adamantly denies it. "There is absolutely no truth to the conversion issue," he said. "In 2003, when we went to a TIP charter, we made a commitment to the credit union charter as being the best value for our members."
