Member credit unions approve PA-NJ league merger

Members of credit union leagues in Pennsylvania and New Jersey have approved a merger of the two entities.

The Pennsylvania Credit Union Association and New Jersey Credit Union League said on Thursday that the combined trade association will be called the PA/NJ Credit Union Association.

The leagues indicated that the merger will become effective no later than Jan. 1, as integration of the two organizations will take the rest of this year.

The combined organization will be led by Patrick Conway, the current CEO of the Pennsylvania league, while David Frankl, the current CEO of New Jersey league, will become president of its for-profit service corporation, the organizations said when the merger was announced in April.

“This is an exciting day for credit unions in both Pennsylvania and New Jersey,” Jeff DeBree, PCUA’s board chair, said in a statement. DeBree is also president and CEO of the $175 million-asset Penn East Federal Credit Union of Scranton, Pa.

Andy Jaeger, NJCUL’s board chair, stated that “joining forces with our good friends in Pennsylvania will lead to more growth and opportunity for the credit unions in both states.” Jaeger is also president and CEO of the $349 million-asset Credit Union of New Jersey of Ewing, N.J.

PCUA currently represents 368 credit unions in Pennsylvania, with more than $45.7 billion in assets and more than 4 million members. NJCUL represents 87 member credit unions with roughly $5 billion in assets.

Pennsylvania credit unions delivered strong growth rates in 2018, while New Jersey credit unions have been struggling in recent years.