JACKSON, Mississippi (AP) — Keesler Federal Credit Union, a $2.1 billion member institution, has acquired Mississippi Department of Transportation Federal Credit Union.
The deal closed March 31. The merger is expected to be completed by June 30.
Both entities are among Mississippi’s earliest credit unions. The Transportation Department began its operation in 1941 and Keesler in 1947.
Keesler began as a credit union for military personnel at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Miss. It has since grown to 187,000 members and recently expanded into Slidell, La.
Jeff Gerard, COO of Keesler Credit Union, tells the Mississippi Business Journal (http://bit.ly/QlYDLj) the new acquisition will be a springboard for establishing several branch operations in the Jackson metropolitan market.
Mississippi Department of Transportation Federal Credit Union is a $4.8 million member institution. Its membership — 1,000 — was limited to agency employees.
Initial members will be MDOT employees and retirees as well as “anyone else we can get to sign up,” Gerard said.
“We’ll be active in signing up new businesses,” he said.
Gerard said Keesler recruits its members in a business-to-business fashion instead of seeking individual members. Individuals can join, however, through paying a $5 membership fee.
In addition to business groups, Keesler in the months ahead will be looking at other groups for membership, including school systems and churches, Gerard said.
Gerard said Keesler has had an important part in helping to bring financial services to the state’s un-banked and under-banked populations. That effort will continue in the metro Jackson market, he said.
“I think the services we provide, competitively priced, allow us to understand the needs of those who may not be the best credit” candidates, Gerard said.
The merger required the approval of the National Credit Union Administration, the federal regulatory agency and provider of deposit insurance of up to $250,000 per account.
