BELLINGHAM, Wash.—North Coast Credit Union here and Pacific Northwest CU have announced plans to merge.
The $195-million North Coast will be the continuing CU. The merger is expected to be finalized Oct. 1 with the $21-million PNCU’s one office in this town formally opening as a North Coast branch in November.
Pacific Northwest members recently approved the consolidation.
PNCU said the increased cost and complexity of running a credit union helped lead to the decision to merge.
“Even though the (Pacific Northwest) credit union had strong capital and we could continue to hold our own, it had become clear to our board of directors that we were too small to keep pace with technology and services needed to grow,” Karin Pelan, president of Pacific Northwest, told the Bellingham Herald.
North Coast President and CEO Terry Belcoe, in a statement on North Coast’s website, said the similar philosophies of both credit unions led to the deal.
“The (PNCU) board members I spoke with cited the fact that they came away from their due diligence confident that we share the same ‘members first’ philosophy that they have; that we would take as good of care of their members as the PNWCU staff always have,” said Belcoe. “I got the impression that this was their top criteria in making their decision.”