This exciting announcement means that Virginia Credit Union (VACU) and Member One Federal Credit Union (Member One) intend to merge, pending regulatory and Member One membership approvals. This strategic merger represents a partnership between two healthy, well-performing Virginia credit unions, for the benefit of their members, employees, and communities.

The board of directors, who represent the members, are confident that merging with Member One and combining our two credit unions will provide the opportunity to achieve greater positive member, employee, and community impact and offer additional benefits to our members. The resulting combined credit union builds an even stronger institution that is trusted, committed, and forward-thinking, while positioning us to serve members into the future.

In a rapidly evolving financial services industry, this merger would allow us to remain competitive and be more responsive to members’ financial needs now and into the future.

Absolutely. We are very excited about this merger and the growth and benefits it will bring to our members, employees, and communities.

Overall, our combined assets would be approximately $6.8 billion, serving close to 500,000 members with 37 branches throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia. With a competitive physical presence and our combined strengths in products, services, personnel, and technology, we would be able to better serve our members and our communities. It’s important to add that while our new asset size is notable, our joint commitment and focus remains to provide the best member, employee, and community value as possible.

Becoming a larger credit union would provide opportunities to leverage resources, position us for continued growth, and increase efficiencies. This would also allow us to provide even more value to members in the form of greater access to expanded products and services along with robust evolving technologies, all while continuing our current impactful local community presence.

We wanted to find a partner that matches our passion, aligns closely with our mission, shares a dedication and loyalty to its membership and the communities they serve, and values employee commitment.

Member One Federal Credit Union is a full-service, member-owned financial institution serving the needs of its communities for 83 years. Member One is headquartered in Roanoke, Virginia. They serve over 150,000 members, have more than $1.63 billion in assets, operate 15 branch facilities, and have a Real Estate and Business Service Center.

Learn more about Member One

Mergers can be initiated for many reasons. The primary reason for our “strategic” merger is to better serve members by providing greater value than we could as separate organizations.

In this case, we are merging two healthy credit unions. The goal of both organizations is to build a combined entity that leverages best practices and achieves greater economies of scale to ensure we can continue to offer the best service, products, and technologies to members.

Employees benefit from strategic mergers as well, from a greater array of professional growth opportunities to the ability to establish best practices, best systems, and best processes that help ensure they are more job resources available.

A merger between our two credit unions would provide the opportunity to achieve more positive member impact and value such as:

• More member access: A larger branch footprint would allow us to have more impact for existing members. But bigger than that, we would be able to serve more people and communities throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia, providing them with access to top-notch financial products and services.
• More value: As a larger organization, we would ultimately gain economies of scale which will allow us to offer an even more robust product and service line, reduce costs, and return more value in the form of products, services, and community involvement (to name a few) to existing and future members.
• More responsive to evolving financial needs: This partnership would allow the credit union to better anticipate and meet the financial needs of members in a competitive financial services industry.
• More branch locations: Together we’d have 37 branches throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia.
• Same knowledgeable, friendly employees: The same friendly staff at our branches would continue to be available to serve members.

Yes. Both organizations are committed to providing high levels of service for members and this would continue to be a focus for the combined organization.

There would be no effect on your accounts at this time. Eventually, there will need to be system integration between the two credit unions. This would not occur until sometime in 2025. As that time approaches, the credit union would work to ensure a seamless integration, and would communicate important dates, changes, and next steps to ensure members can continue to conduct business with minimal disruption.

Yes. Credit Union deposits would continue to be federally insured by the NCUA, meaning you have up to $250,000 in protection for an individual account. The NCUA provides separate insurance coverage for deposits held in different ownership categories such as individual accounts, joint tenancy accounts, Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs) and trust accounts.

You’d still be a member of the combined organization. Once a member, always a member.

No. As part of VACU’s strategic plan, the executive team and board of directors agreed that a federal charter will allow us greater flexibility for future growth and allow us to serve more members throughout the state of Virginia. We are currently regulated by Virginia’s Bureau of Financial institutions (BFI) and by the National Credit Union Association (NCUA). With a federal charter we would only have one regulator, NCUA.

At this time, there are no plans for any branch closures. In fact, this merger would provide the opportunity to expand our branch locations and enhance our digital member experience. Member One branches would not be available to VACU members immediately. As the merger progresses, we would announce when these locations would be available for VACU members.

No. Both credit unions recognize the importance of retaining talented and dedicated team members and that a successful merger is dependent on retaining that talent and leadership.

As an organization grows, so does its workforce. We believe our ability to invest in the success of our people would expand as opportunities for professional growth and development increase. The member facing staff in the locations you visit would remain in those locations unless they decide to explore a new opportunity.

Immediately following a successful merger process (i.e., legal day 1), Member One would be designated as “Member One, a division of Virginia Credit Union” or similar designation. Virginia Credit Union’s name will not change.

Chris Shockley, VACU’s current President/CEO will continue to be the President/CEO for the combined organization.

The proposed merger requires approval of a majority of the members of Member One who vote on the proposal. VACU members are not required to vote.

The board of directors of both credit unions recently and enthusiastically voted in favor of the merger. Upon receipt of regulatory approval, Member One members will vote. The timeline for this is estimated to be this spring or summer. Upon all approvals, it is anticipated the merger would be finalized in mid-2024, with system integrations extending into 2025.

As the merger process continues, VACU will keep members informed of progress, including sharing important notices, dates, and events. If you have questions that haven’t been addressed in these frequently asked, please email us.