Small credit unions continued their disappearing act last month, with 12 of 19 mergers approved by NCUA swallowing up a credit union under $5 million in assets.
One small faith-based credit union, Need Action CU, in Waterbury, Conn.., voted to voluntarily liquidate because it could not continue to compete in the marketplace, and another, Wichita, Kan.-based Communities United CU, born out of that state's low-income credit union law, sent out a desperate plea for financial assistance to remain alive (CU Journal, May 30).
Through the first four months of the year, 55 small credit unions have disappeared through merger, after 154 small credit unions were swallowed in mergers last year.
The biggest mergers approved last month were:
* Deer Valley FCU, Phoenix ($225 million) with Honeywell Aerospace FCU, Glendale, Ariz. ($166 million).
* Apple FCU, Fairfax, Va. ($725 million) with NVAR FCU, Fairfax ($17 million)
* Deere Community CU, Ottumwa, Iowa ($145 million) with Cedar Rapids Community CU, Cedar Rapids, Iowa ($16 million).
- Ed Roberts can be reached at eroberts
