Branch network

A look at where credit union branches are being closed faster than they're being opened.

A look at where credit union branches are growing the fastest.

While banks have been backing away from branching, a recent study by SNL Financial that credit unions have been adding more new branches the last couple of years.

There's been a lot of talk about futuristic branches. Here's how two CUs have already implemented their own strategies to take their networks to the next generation.

CO-OP Shared Branch has overtaken Bank of America in number of branches, and now is the third-largest network of financial institution branches in the United States, according to data drawn from the FDIC.

ATM management company Dolphin Debit has placed large, drive-up ATMs at Murphy USA fuel stations, adjacent to Walmart stores, for credit unions in Mississippi and Texas.

First Bank in Wilmington, N.C., opened a new branch in Jacksonville, N.C., earlier this week, that was designed to be environmentally friendly.

The number of branches at credit unions and banks has been surging for decades and presents some challenging problems for financial institutions as they face an ever-increasingly competitive landscape in the future.