PENFIELD, N.Y.-Henrietta FCU here has been merged into Family First FCU, but the absorbing CU is carrying on the tradition of personalized service by meeting with as many of Henrietta's 469 members as possible.
Family First CEO Christine Peters explained that Henrietta was "having an increasingly difficult time with the ever-increasing regulatory environment. And, to further complicate matters, their longtime manager-who basically was a founder and has run the credit union for 50-plus years-retired in 2011. Those two things combined really had them deciding that that was a good time to seek a merger partner."
What makes the merger somewhat unusual is that Family First MSRs are attempting to meet with as many of Henrietta FCU's members as possible and are converting their accounts individually."We decided to convert them all manually because it was feasible to do so with such a small number," said Peters. "Rather than just push a button and then send a letter that says 'Effective today you're a Family First member,' we decided to reach out."
CU representatives are contacting Henrietta members and asking them to come in and sit down to open their Family First account, "and then we can transition everything and understand what they're looking for and whether they need any new services."
Peters said the goal is to meet with at least 75% of the members in-person and to transition the rest electronically by March. FFCU is contacting the most active of Henrietta FCU members first.
Henrietta's sole branch has already been converted to a Family First facility. Its one staffer opted to take a position elsewhere.
Family First has 11,500 members.
