ALEXANDRIA, Va. – To paraphrase author Mark Twain, news of the death of the credit union branch was premature.
Despite suffering one of their worst years in memory, credit unions embarked on a branch-building frenzy last year, adding a record 545 new branches–the most ever for a single year, according to NCUA.
The building boom added almost 8,000 employees to credit union payrolls last year, also a new high.
During 2007, Navy FCU completed the biggest branch-building expansion in credit union history, adding a record 31 new service facilities. Fairwinds CU added seven new branches and plans another nine for 2008. Xerox FCU plans to build 10 new branches. Hudson Valley FCU is in the process of adding five branches. AmeriCU CU added three branches in December. ELGA CU opened two new branches last year and plans two more in 2008. And hundreds more branches either are in construction or on drawing boards.
The branch expansion is almost counter-intuitive, as growing numbers of financial customers opt for online banking, ATMs and other remote services that keep them out of a branch.
“We’ve found that our members still like the convenience of a branch to go into, even with the availability of online banking and other electronic services,” said George Nahodil, vice president of retail delivery for Members 1st FCU, during the Pennsylvania CU Association’s recent CEO Summit. The $1.4 billion Mechanicsburg, Penn., credit union has plans to add as many as 10 branches to serve a six-county field of membership it was approved to serve.
“You still need that physical presence in order to serve members,” said John Unangst, president of Franklin Mint FCU, Media, Penn., which is planning to build branches in as many as five offices of home-shopping network QVC, one of its select employee groups.
According to NCUA, the number of credit union branches has grown by 1,600 over the past four years, even while 1,270 credit unions were disappearing through mergers or liquidations. During that time, credit unions have added 26,203 employees to their payrolls, an increase of almost 12%.
