Growth strategies

Technology has led to heightened expectations by consumers, meaning credit unions not only have to be aware of changes in the marketplace, they have to be ready to act upon them.

Lending Club, Prosper Marketplace and Funding Circle are locking arms to create a new trade group that will represent the marketplace lending industry in Washington.

Two North Carolina credit unions — Coastal Federal Credit Union and Freedom Credit Union — said their boards have agreed to merge the institutions in a transaction that will result in Coastal FCU as the surviving entity.

San Francisco Municipal Railway Employees Federal Credit Union on Wednesday said it is pursuing a merger with UNIFY Financial Credit Union of Torrance, Calif.

The program is a 24-month curriculum designed to generate groundbreaking new ideas and position participants to carry the torch for growth and innovation in the credit union market, Filene announced Monday.

San Francisco has an Office of Financial Empowerment that oversees all sorts of programs designed to help residents handle their money better and recruits banks and credit unions to participate. As other cities adopt a similar approach, more financial institutions have an opportunity to get involved.

Clinton Township, Mich. -- Central Macomb Community Credit Union, Clinton Township, Mich., will change its name to FreeStar Financial Credit Union, effective April 4, in order to “better align” with its new field of membership (FOM), which now encompasses ten counties in Southeast Michigan and all military members throughout the state of Michigan.

University of Virginia Community Credit Union in Charlottesville, Va., has completed its merger with Northern Piedmont Federal Credit Union in Warrenton, Va.

Even if people don’t fall for Community Choice CU’s April Fool’s Day prank, the CU hopes to show consumers that if they’re banking with a bank instead of a credit union, they’ve already been fooled.

While many CUs avoid the product that some consumer advocates deem predatory, the CUs that do offer them say it's a service members want and need and can be done in consumer-friendly way.