Starbuck, Noventis credit unions to merge

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This article was published 14/05/2015 (4129 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Round and round it goes, where the mergers stop, nobody knows.

Members of both Noventis and Starbuck credit unions have voted overwhelmingly in favour of a merger that will create the ninth-largest financial co-operative in the province with more than $730 million in assets.

In separate votes Tuesday evening, 96 per cent of Noventis Credit Union members voted in favour of the marriage, which will become official on Oct. 1, one per cent higher than their counterparts at Starbuck Credit Union.

Noventis CEO Kevin McKnight said his team is continually on the lookout for ways to grow in the ultra-competitive world of banking and financial services.

“We are expanding in size but it’s really about having the right fit of cultures and sustainability for our organizations. We’re both rural-based credit unions with a strong dedication to strong communities and community support,” he said.

Last month, a proposed merger between Assiniboine and Access credit unions that would have created the largest credit union in the province was narrowly defeated by Access members, some of whom didn’t want to join with an organization that supported the LGBT community.

That could change, however, now that a group of Access members has circulated a petition to request a special meeting to revisit the merger question, which Access is required by its own constitution to hold. If another 25 members had voted in favour of the merger, it would have passed.

There are 36 credit unions in Manitoba, down from 57 a decade ago, 75 in 1995 and 97 in 1985. Whenever there is a spate of mergers, it prompts industry speculation about when the mergers might stop. Six credit unions in the whole province? Four?

If Doug Mosset, president of Starbuck Credit Union, was a betting man, he’d put his money on 10.

“Who knows where it will end up? It’s going that way. We have to compete and in order to compete, unfortunately, you have to be big,” he said.

Garth Manness, CEO of the Credit Union Central of Manitoba, didn’t want to pick a final number but he doesn’t expect the trend to stop.

“We’ve seen the migration to fewer and larger credit unions. I would expect that to continue. I trust it will end up at a spot where the credit unions are most competitive with other financial institutions and optimize the number of people who belong to credit unions,” he said.

Recent research states 47 per cent of Manitobans belong to a financial co-operative. Manness said he looks forward to the day when they crack the 50 per cent mark.

“That would be a good milestone to reach,” he said.

geoff.kirbyson@freepress.mb.ca