BROCKTON, Mass. – HarborOne Credit Union here has scheduled a special meeting for members for March 11 to discuss its proposal to convert to a bank.
The meeting will be held at The Shaw’s Center and be open to members who are 18 years of age an older and who have had an account with the credit union for at least three months. For state-chartered CUs, a conversion to a bank requires a simple majority of members who vote, not a majority of the credit union’s 15,000 members. Ballots are to be sent to members in the coming months.
Among other things, the credit union has said it needs to convert to a bank charter in order to expand its service area; it has not said why it does not simply seek to expand its field of membership.
The most recent attempt by a credit union to convert to a bank charter was by California’s Technology CU in late 2012, in which 77% of votes were cast against the conversion plan.
