Virginia Credit Union, Member One announce merger

Chesterfield County-based Virginia Credit Union and Roanoke-based Member One Federal Credit Union announced plans to merge Thursday, a deal that would create the state’s third largest credit union, with a combined $6.7 billion in assets and 500,000 members.

VACU is currently the fourth largest Virginia-based credit union, with $5.18 billion in assets, according to the National Credit Union Administration, behind Newport News-based Langley Federal’s $5.29 billion in assets. With the addition of Member One’s $1.64 billion in assets, VACU will have a stronger hold on third place. The state’s two largest credit unions are Navy Federal Credit Union, with $168 billion, and Pentagon Federal Credit Union, with $35 billion in assets.

Under the agreement, Chris Shockley, president and CEO of Virginia Credit Union, would remain president and CEO of the combined organization. Frank Carter, president and CEO of Member One, would remain an executive until he retires. The combined credit union would employ about 1,100 people at about 37 branches. The credit unions said in Thursday’s announcement that no one would lose their job, and no branch locations would close in the merger.

Both boards of directors voted in favor of the merger, and after federal regulatory approval and an affirmative vote by Member One’s members, the credit unions anticipate the merger will be finalized around the middle of this year, with system integrations extending into 2025.

After the merger is complete, Virginia Credit Union would not change its name, but Member One would become Member One, a division of Virginia Credit Union, or something similar.

“This partnership represents the heart of the credit union industry’s cooperative mindset,”  Shockley said in a statement. “Fundamentally, credit unions came into existence when people saw an opportunity to band together and pool their financial resources in order to provide access to financial products and services to people who needed them.”

Virginia Credit Union has 320,000 members and Member One has about 150,000 members.

“When I first sat down with Chris and we started to share our visions for our respective credit unions, everything about partnering together felt right,” Carter said in a statement. “From the onset, both of our boards of directors have focused on ensuring that together we’d continue to provide the best member, employee and community value.”