5 Ways Members Benefit From A Credit Union Merger

The beautiful thing about a credit union merger is that everyone enjoys positive change, including the consumers. Member merger benefits range from financial to technological and greatly outweigh any potential negatives that might result from a merger.

Many members join credit unions in the first place in order to save money. Since credit unions are non-profit, any and all of their resources are considered essential and used to create value for members. When a merger happens, the separate entities are able to combine their varied resources, creating an opportunity for bigger savings which can then be passed onto their members.

Here is a list of five ways that credit unions provide benefits to their members when they merge with another credit union.

1. Products and Services

Typically, small credit unions lack the scale necessary to offer many products and services such as mortgages, investments, business lending, and indirect lending solutions. Through valuable partnerships with larger credit unions, members are enabled to have access to a richer portfolio of products and services to get the most out of their membership.

2. Better Rates

When they combine, the more competitive credit union one will be able to help the other union to lower rates and help members save. Often, smaller or medium-sized credit unions have a higher operating expense structure and are therefore restricted in their ability to offer the most competitive rates. However, when they merge, smaller credit unions become benefit from economies of scale and are able to offer their members better rates, better fees, and reward programs.

3. Convenience

Members can use more branch and ATM locations following a merger. With a larger branch footprint members can continue easy access to branches as they move to different communities.  Members also benefit from extended call center hours following mergers.  This is especially true with mergers that occur over different time zones.

4. Technology

As technology is changing rapidly, many smaller credit unions find themselves facing an uphill battle against the competition. They often struggle to offer modern day standards like mobile apps and video tellers. Additionally, smaller and medium credit unions struggle to scale effectively with big data and analytics. Mergers reduce this struggle.

5. Member Service

In any business, there are times when a client needs to reach out for support regarding a question or concerns. Mergers often result in an increase in employee numbers, meaning that there are more associates available to tend to these customer needs. It also means that members will have access to more specialists to help navigate the intricacies of more complex products like business loans, investments, and indirect lending opportunities.

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There are many reasons why members and employees benefit from credit union mergers. In effect, the positive changes for employees tend to translate into member merger benefits, too. When companies empower their employees with better products and additional training, they will in turn work harder to make clients happy. Mergers often result in better pay, more benefits, and better hours for employees, making them better customer service associates for members. Happy employees are loyal employees, and loyal employees help to foster valuable relationships with members.

If you are considering a potential merger between your credit union, and another, remember that there are many things that you will need to consider. These member merger benefits are huge incentives for any credit union to push forward towards the merger.