A $36-million credit union that recently moved its headquarters to East Hartford from Trumbull has immediately begun making moves, with plans to double in size over the next five years.
America’s First Network Credit Union (AFNCU) recently won approval from the state Department of Banking to acquire North Haven-based Connecticut Federal Credit Union, and it has applied for permission to acquire Hartford’s CT Transit Federal Credit Union.
America’s First has about $36 million in total assets and nearly 5,000 members, making it Connecticut’s 37th largest credit union. Connecticut Federal adds another $7.7 million and 1,582 members served by its single branch.
In addition, if regulators OK the proposed deal with Connecticut Transit — which is more than 80 years old and serves Hartford division transit employees and their families — America’s First will assume another $1 million in assets and 653 members.
In all, the two deals would see America’s First assets by about 25 percent.
”This is completely within our strategic plan,” said Nicholas Moalli, who became CEO of America’s First in 2017. “Our goal is to reach over $100 million in assets by year end 2025.”
Doing that would certainly mean more acquisitions, as well as organic growth. Though Moalli was unwilling to discuss any specific targets, he said the plan is to pursue smaller credit unions that serve “select employer groups,” or SEGs, like America’s First does.
There are approximately 60 such credit unions in the state. The biggest is Connecticut State Employees Credit Union with $1.9 billion in assets.
As it seeks to roll up SEG credit unions, America’s First certainly won’t be targeting an institution of that size, but Moalli said there are many smaller credit unions that may be feeling the pressure of technology. (SEGs generally have charters that permit them to serve members from specific employers, as opposed to community-based credit unions, whose charters restrict them to certain geographies).
Moalli said America’s First’s recent move to East Hartford was the result of a Trumbull real estate shakeup by Unilever that resulted in the credit union having to move its longtime branch there to a nearby, smaller location.
America’s First’s East Hartford branch, which it acquired in 2017, is more publicly accessible, and Moalli said it’s also intended to make a statement that his nonprofit cooperative serves many different groups.
”We have a lot of other SEGs now,” he said.
The East Hartford branch used to be the home of East Hartford Federal Credit Union. Today, America’s First operates it under the name “East Hartford Financial, a division of AFNCU.”
That speaks to some of AFNCU’s strategy. It aims to acquire smaller credit unions that have history and a loyal base of members, but that also need help evolving in a competitive banking landscape, where mobile apps and other products have become table stakes.
”We saw in the marketplace a need for smaller credit unions to join together while trying to maintain their identify and service at a local level,” Moalli said. “They want the scalability of a merger but their members still want the same feel.”
Each of the two credit unions America’s First is acquiring or seeking permission to acquire lack mobile apps.
Moalli said their members would also be able to access additional real estate and auto loan offerings, retirement products, and access to a surcharge-free credit union ATM network called Allpoint.
