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Credit unions acquisitions of banks have kicked off in 2021 just as they had in 2020: with a move by Minnesota s Wings Financial Credit Union.
The $6.7 billion-asset Apple Valley-based credit union is buying fellow Minnesota lender Brainerd Savings & Loan, it announced Monday, according to the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal and American Banker. The deal, which requires federal and state approval, is expected to close by May 31. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Wings in February 2020 announced it would buy Mora, Minnesota-based Neighborhood National Bank in the first bank purchase by a credit union last year.
The acquisition of taxpaying banks by tax-exempt credit unions has aroused pushback from the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA), which launched a campaign in late 2019 aimed at curbing the trend. Credit unions in 2019 bought 16 banks, an acceleration from nine the previous year. That number winnowed to seven in 2020.