A Kentucky-based credit union with less than $1 million in assets and 442 members is seeking approval for a merger, citing financial stresses and an inability to keep up with consumers’ modern banking expectations.
According to a notice sent to members, the Muhlenberg Community Hospital Credit Union “does not have the financial nor manpower resources to adequately monitor for cybersecurity and terrorism activities, provide online services to members, nor continue offering the limited services that were sufficient in the past.”
A meeting will be held on Dec. 21 to vote on a merger into the $50.3 million-asset Green River Area Federal Credit Union in Owensboro, Ky. Approval of the deal, which is expected to close in February, would see the former MCHCU members gain access to additional products and services, including ATM access and new savings products. Green River Area FCU would expand its field of membership as part of the deal to include Muhlenberg County.
A member of the Muhlenberg Community Hospital Credit Union board has already joined the Green River Area board. All MCHCU staff are expected to retire once the transaction is completed.
The merger would bring Green River Area to about $51 million in assets and roughly 5,500 members.
Muhlenberg Community Hospital CU lost nearly $2,200 during the first three quarters of the year, compared with earnings of just over $1,300 during the same period one year prior, according to call report data from the National Credit Union Administration. Its loan portfolio consists only of unsecured loans totaling about $120,000.
