Vystar Credit Union said Jan. 6 it completed the acquisition of First Coast Federal Credit Union, a small Jacksonville institution.
First Coast Federal had one office at 3040 Edison Ave. on the Westside and had $11.2 million in assets and about 1,700 members.
Jacksonville-based VyStar is the 13th largest credit union in the U.S. with more than $13 billion in assets and 860,000 members.
“As part of our long-term growth plan, we will continue to look for strategic opportunities that bring additional benefits and convenience to our growing membership and communities,” VyStar CEO Brian Wolfburg said in a news release.
The two credit unions announced the merger in April 2022. Terms of the deal were not announced.
VyStar said it expects to open up to 25 new branches in Florida and Georgia over the next few years. The credit union operates in 49 counties in North and Central Florida and 26 counties in Georgia.
VyStar tried to expand with an agreement to buy a commercial bank, Jonesboro, Georgia-based Heritage Southeast Bancorporation Inc.
However, VyStar could not get regulatory approval for the deal amid pushback from bankers over credit union acquisitions of commercial banks. The merger agreement with Heritage was terminated in June 2022.
Heritage, which has one branch in Jacksonville, agreed in July to an acquisition by Hattiesburg, Mississippi-based First Bancshares Inc.
Those two banks completed their merger Jan. 1.