DURHAM, N.C. – The Community for Self-Help, which added two failed credit unions to its federal charter in the past two weeks, announced yesterday its flagship state charter, Self-Help CU, is acquiring Choice FCU, a troubled $48 million credit union in nearby Greensboro.
Choice, chartered in 1979 as Burlington Employees’ FCU, will continue to operate as a division of Self-Help. The credit union lost $141,000 in 2008 and $968,000 for the first three quarters of 2009. It had just over 5% net worth at Sept. 30. The deal gives Self-Help CU more than $410 million in assets.
Choice becomes the fifth credit union in the state to operate as a division of Self-Help. The others are Cape Fear CU, Scotland Community CU, Wilson Community CU and Carolina Mountain CU.
The deal comes just days after Self-Help’s start-up West Coast credit union, known as Self-Help FCU, acquired failed El Futuro CU and Kern Central CU, helping to create a $150 million credit union less than 18 months after its founding.
Officials with the group, which also operates Self-Help Ventures Fund and the well-known consumer lobby, the Center for Responsible Lending, say the two credit unions will continue to operate separately, with the flagship community development credit union continuing to limit its operations to its home state of North Carolina, and the new federal charter used to create a national footprint.
