🔒CT credit union seeks broader reach through charter conversion, name change

Plainville-based United Business & Industry Federal Credit Union is seeking to broaden its reach through a state charter conversion, a name change and an expanded field of membership. Connecticut Banking Commissioner Jorge L. Perez on Tuesday approved the credit union's request to change its name to UBI Financial Credit Union and convert from a federal to a state charter. The transition remains subject to approval by the credit union's membership. UBI is targeting Oct. 1 for the change. UBI President and CEO Edward E. Bohnwagner III said the state Department of Banking also approved an expansion of the credit union's field of membership to include Litchfield, New Haven, Middlesex and Tolland counties. UBI currently serves Hartford County. The credit union will also be able to serve members of the Community Impact Fund, a Colorado-based nonprofit that provides financial education, tools and grants to financially vulnerable working people. Through that relationship, UBI could potentially serve members beyond its designated Connecticut counties and possibly outside state boundaries, Bohnwagner said. “It’s really just going to benefit everybody, allowing us to bring our services to more people and more counties,” Bohnwagner said. “We are a nonprofit, so our rates are better on savings accounts and a little lower on loans, with less fees. We are just trying to bring that to more people.”

The credit union has long operated under the abbreviated UBI moniker and so it is a good time to make it official as it moves to drop “Federal” from its name, Bohnwagner said. UBI has 11,241 members and $143.39 million in assets. It operates full-service branches in Plainville and Bristol, along with a branch located inside Plainville High School. While the credit union is not committing to additional branches, Bohnwagner said management will explore opportunities for a broader brick-and-mortar presence. “It is very expensive to open a branch, but we are doing very well financially, so we are looking to supplement our current locations,” Bohnwagner said. “We will be looking to find a good spot.” The institution traces its roots to 1951, when it was founded as Trumbull Electric Employees Federal Credit Union. In the 1960s, it became GE Assemblies & Devices Employees Federal Credit Union, reflecting its membership base at the time. In 1985, federal regulators approved a charter change allowing the credit union to serve companies affiliated with the Plainville and Berlin chambers of commerce, along with municipal employees in those communities. The credit union adopted the United Business & Industry Federal Credit Union name in 1997. Following mergers with other credit unions and continued growth in Plainville and Bristol, UBI expanded to serve hundreds of companies. In 2005, the credit union converted to a community charter, opening membership to anyone who lives, works, worships or attends school in Hartford County.