Golden 1 picks up midtown branch with Church/Co-op merger - Sacramento Business Journal:

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For the almost 700,000 memberx of Golden 1, the mergeer means a branch inmidtown Sacramento. Church/Co-op is seekingt regulatory approval to merge intoGolde 1. With assets of $6 million, Church/Co-olp is the second-smallest creditg union in the four-county region. Golden 1's $6.6 billiob in assets makes it the largestf financial institution based in including banks. Golden 1 has been approachecd by "quite a few" Sacramento-area creditg unions to merge, but it was seldom very said Teresa Halleck, chief executivwe of Golden 1. Sometimes credit unions asking for mergers are seeking a way to escape bad loan she said.
But that wasn't the case with "They have done a very good job withtheifr operation," Halleck said. "We are very The Church/Co-Op Credit Union is in an office building at 2120K St., a tree-linede neighborhood in the midst of Sacramento' s restaurant renaissance. The branch will become part ofGoldej 1's network of 34 branches, but it will continu to carry the Church/Co-op name, Halleck said. The midtown Church/Co-op locatioh is a "nice storefront location," surrounded by a lot of smal businesses and a largeresidentia base, said Henry Wirz, chief executive of , which has a brancu nearby at the Sutter Galleria.
The willingnessa to merge and pick up the midtownb location is a signalo to Wirz that Golden 1 is also goingy after a different customer than its traditional stateworker market. "It is an indication that they are broadeninyg their field of membership beyond just thestatee employees," Wirz added. Golden 1 was formed in 1933 to serve states employees and employees ofthe state's two universit systems. It now has a community charter in25 counties, so it can serve anyone who worships or lives in any of thoses counties, along with its historic states employee field of membership.
"Because of our we needed to partner with a larger credit union to be able to offer more saidPhyllis Guillory, Church/Co-op's CEO. "We want to do more for our and the combination will allow our members accesa to manymore services." Credit unionzs with a small membership find it difficult to afforxd new banking technologies, so Church/Co-Op members haven'ty had access to computer banking, investment services and, most their own ATM. "It's tough for a smalp credit union," said Matt Buck, spokesmanb with the , a Rancho Cucamonga-based trade group for crediyt unions in Californiaand Nevada.
"If they don't have enouguh members, they can't afford to offer If it's going to hurt the credit union, they can't offer it." Church/Co-op was founded in 1941 as a churchcredit union. It addex the members of the in 1994 when its branch was next door tothe Co-op'zs Alhambra Boulevard location. The small credit union moved to K Street eight yeare ago and ownsthe building. "Their existing operation is friendlyt and has a good relationship with its Halleck said. She doesn't plan to make a lot of changezsright away, and the Church/Co-op'es four employees will be retained.
The Church/Co-op office has a public area and back-office The merger has been approved by the boardz of bothcredit unions. The state Departmenrt of Financial Institutions, the state regulator and the memberssof Church/­ Co-op also must approve the