Wings Financial Credit Union has scored a deal with Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport to take over the airport's U.S. Bank branch.
U.S. Bancorp decided to close its branch at Terminal 1 to cut operating costs, the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal reported. The $4.2 billion-asset Apple Valley, Minn.-based credit union will relocate to the branch space until 2018 when the location will be repurposed as part of an airport improvement plan.
Altogether, Wings will operate four ATMs in Terminal 1. For the new space, Wings will pay the same rent as U.S. Bank, $68.22 per square foot monthly, and a chunk of the $3 surcharge for out-of-network ATM fees. The lease is set to start May 1 and last 18 months.
Airport officials reached out to TCF Financial Corp., Wells Fargo & Co. and Bank of America about taking over the branch. The three banks either didn't respond or were not interested, according to a memo.
"We evaluated the opportunity and determined that it did not align with our market objectives," a spokesman for TCF wrote Wednesday by email.
A spokesman for Wells Fargo could not comment directly on the airport branch, but noted that the bank operates more than 550 ATMs across the state of Minnesota. Bank of America did not immediately return a request for comment.
U.S. Bank had struggled with its operations at the airport, noting last year that it had lost millions from the ATMs there, according to the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal. The bank still plans to operate its 17 airport ATMs after closing the branch.
Wings was founded in 1938 by airline employees. The CU serves anyone who lives or works in the Minneapolis-St. Paul and Seattle-Tacoma metropolitan areas, anyone who works or has worked for the aviation industry and members of the Wings Financial Foundation.
