1/25/2017

LIMA, OH— First Choice Credit Union of Coldwater, Ohio and Superior Credit Union of Lima, Ohio, have announced plans to combine their operations.  Under the arrangement, First Choice Credit Union will integrate its $16 million in assets and 2,000 members with Superior, which has $630 million in assets and 63,500 members.  The combined organization will operate as Superior Credit Union.

What Members of Each Credit Union Will Get

The deal will provide members of First Choice Credit Union access to Superior’s 14 area branch locations and its wider array of financial products and services.  Meanwhile, Superior members will gain full service access to First Choice’s branch location in Coldwater, with a new branch facility to be built in the near future.

“There are a lot of new products, services, and technologies that Superior already has in place that will benefit our members,” said Kerri Lauber, Office Manager of First Choice.  “Meanwhile, our members will gain the immediate advantage of an expanded ATM network and convenient branch locations.”

“We realized that if we conjoined operations, our members could benefit greatly from the programs that Superior has in place right now.  This is definitely the right move for our membership,” said Lauber.

Once the deal is completed, members of First Choice will have access to those additional products and services at Superior, such as full-service mortgage products, financial investment services, real estate services, insurance services, and small business services.

Phil Buell, President and Chief Executive Officer of Superior, believes the arrangement will benefit the members of both institutions.

“In credit unions, consolidation is done for the sole purpose of benefiting members.  This is a decision to combine assets and provide additional services to the membership.  For Superior members, they will now have access to First Choice’s full-service branch location.  We see this as a tremendous benefit to our Mercer and Auglaize County members.”

Before members vote on the tentative merger, the Boards of both credit unions had to approve the proposal.  Approval from state and federal regulators is needed as well.