First Entertainment, Paramount In Merger

First Entertainment Credit Union, which serves employees of the entertainment industry, said it has completed the absorption via merger of Paramount Studio Employees FCU. In the process, the $450-million First Entertainment has added a tenth branch to its network.

"We are excited about serving members from PSEFCU, and providing such services to its members clearly fulfills our mission," said First Entertainment CU CEO Chuck Bruen. "Because of the large number of employees on the (studio) lot daily, we consider it to be one of the crown jewels in the movie industry."

Prior to the merger, the $16-million PSEFCU had one branch on the Paramount Studio lot. Prior to the merger it was discovered that 20% of PSEFCU's membership had an existing account with First Entertainment.

According to FECU's VP-Operations and Marketing Roy MacKinnon, First Entertainment completed a branch makeover of the PSEFCU facility prior to its grand reopening on the Paramount studio lot. "We removed every piece of furniture, painted, hung artwork on the walls and placed our equipment in the branch to prepare for opening on April 1. In just 72 hours we went from old to new, and we've gotten rave reviews. Since opening, we've also installed an ATM on the lot," said MacKinnon.

First Entertainment serves 60,000 members.

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