Olds-headquartered Mountain View Credit Union (MVCU) is pursuing a possible amalgamation with Calgary-based Connect First Credit Union, officials said Wednesday.
Tracy Kelly, vice-president of marketing with MVCU, said work is currently underway to "explore a business case" for a possible amalgamation.
"We are just pursuing it right now," Kelly said. "With something like this we have to be thorough and there are a couple different steps.
"We are developing a business case and are doing a thorough due diligence and will be doing that over the next month or two.
"We've done a certain amount of work to this point to recognize there is potential, but we have to evaluate that and make sure there will be real value for our members. We are talking but it is not a done deal yet."
MVCU operates 13 branches in Central Alberta including in Olds, Sundre and Didsbury and has assets of $852 million.
Connect First Credit Union operates 29 branches under the brands First Calgary Financial, Chinook Financial and Legacy Financial. It has over $5.8 billon in assets.
MVCU initiated the talks with Connect First, she said.
"It was us and it was quite unexpected, I think, on their side," she said. "It's hard sometimes being a smaller organization. We looked to Connect First because we like their model.
"For us, we would have that shared support of being a larger organization, especially for administration and cost and efficiencies.
"We would still maintain our Mountain View name and our brand and our regional office in Olds."
The board of directors of MVCU and Connect First have met to discuss the possible amalgamation, she said.
Members of both credit unions would have to vote on any amalgamation, she said.
"If (the board of directors of both credit unions) approve it, then it will go to our membership for their vote," she said.
Connect First members could vote at a special meeting on June 6 and MVCU members at a special meeting in Olds on June 7, she said.
The amalgamated credit union would operate under the legal name Connect First Credit Union Ltd. with four member brands: Mountain View Financial, Chinook Financial, Legacy Financial and First Calgary Financial.
"A credit union can't own a credit union so that's the only reason we can't be Mountain View Credit Union. We will just change that to Mountain View Financial and carry on," she said.
MVCU board chairman Richard Anderson said an amalgamation of the credit unions would "provide greater value for our members than remaining independent.
"The benefits to our members include more competitive products and services, enhanced technology offering and more locations to do their business across south and central Alberta."
Connect First board chairman Andrew Eberl said, "We're a good fit as we share a focus on local member service, employee engagement, cooperative values, community participation and long-term sustainability."
Any MVCU member with questions about the proposed amalgamation can contact any branch or the head office in Olds, said Kelly.
"We will have a lot of information available through our branches and we are setting up a specific website," she said.
"If they have any questions or want more information, we're happy to share it."
"We are developing a business case and are doing a thorough due diligence and will be doing that over the next month or two."
