Top officials with VyStar Credit Union and 121 Financial Credit Union said the proposed merger of the two Jacksonville-based institutions will make them even stronger in the community.
VyStar and 121 Financial announced the merger April 20.
In separate interviews after the announcement, VyStar President and CEO Brian Wolfburg and 121 Financial President and CEO David Marovich said the partnership will strengthen efforts to serve customers as well as provide new opportunities for employees.
Wolfburg said the number of credit unions in the country, once as high as 10,000, is now about 4,700.
The VyStar-121 Financial merger reflects a national trend as “larger credit unions continue to grow and gain efficiencies” through mergers to put money into better, lower and more competitive loan rates,” he said.
“Those factors play into those decisions,” Wolfburg said.
“I think every situation is different,” Marovich said. “The partnership brings together two trusted and financially strong institutions, and will allow us to provide better rates to our membership.”
When the merger is completed, Vystar will have assets of $14 billion and serve more than 920,00 members, Wolfburg said.
Vystar, the 13th largest credit union in the country, has 69 offices in North Florida and Southeast Georgia, while 121 Financial has eight branches, all in the Jacksonville metropolitan area.
121 Financial was founded in 1935 as Florida Telco Credit Union. It took on the 121 Financial name in 2010.
121 Financial has more than 49,000 members and nearly $680 million in assets, according to the news release announcing the merger.
Wolfburg said the two groups look forward to combining forces to “go forward together.”
They expect the merger to be completed by the end of 2023, and a system conversion to be completed by summer 2024.
Wolfburg said the merger “developed organically.”
He said the credit unions have long had a good relationship that existed when he joined VyStar in 2018 and was “started by our predecessors.”
Marovich said he and 121 Financial board members “have been working on this for about 18 months.
“I think our board felt that this was a good time (to think about a merger) and tried to determine who would be the best partners for this.”
The release said all 121 Financial members and its 140 employees will be invited to join VyStar.
“We do not want to disrupt the employees,” Wolfburg said.
“Those are employees who built that institution and who make the brand what is it, and have relationships with businesses and clients.”
There are no plans to make any decisions about keeping or closing branches over the coming year, Marovich said.
“VyStar has a good presence of branch locations, and expanded access was one of the things we’ve talked about,” he said.