Industry consolidation has led to a merger of two more state banking trade groups.
The Indiana Bankers Association and the Community Bankers Association of Indiana merged into a single trade group on Oct. 1, retaining the Indiana Bankers Association name.
James H. Cousins, who had been the Indiana Bankers Association’s president and chief executive, is the merged group’s CEO. Its president is S. Joe DeHaven, who had been the Community Bankers group’s president and CEO.
Mr. Cousins said the move was driven largely by industry consolidation, which was shrinking both groups’ membership rolls. The combined organization has 192 members.
The groups had many of the same philosophies and had essentially been lobbying as one for several years, Mr. Cousins said.
The merger leaves Indiana with one state banking trade group; the Indiana League of Savings Institutions was merged into the Indiana Bankers Association in 2000.
State trade groups have been consolidating at a rapid clip in recent years. Mergers have occurred in at least nine states since 2000, most recently in New York and Louisiana. Groups in both Texas and New Jersey were also in merger negotiations, but in both cases the talks broke off earlier this year.
Mr. DeHaven said he expects the merger to save members money on educational programs. A typical seminar attracts 25 to 30 people; he expects participation to double, spreading event production costs over a larger membership.
Mr. Cousins said the groups had been in negotiations since last spring and that both memberships approved the merger in August.
He said that the combined organization will have affiliations with the American Bankers Association, the Independent Community Bankers of America, and America’s Community Bankers, and that the two boards will be combined into one with 29 members. Over the next three years that number is to be reduced to 20.
