JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Even though members of 121 Financial Credit Union have now voted in favor of merging into VyStar Credit Union, some members are now objecting to the combination, according to a new report.
The $710-million 121 Financial CU has more than 50,000 members who will now become part of the $13.4-billion VyStar, which has close to 920,000 members. The merger is to become effective on March 1, and 121 Financial will operate as a division of VyStar.
News4Jax reported it interviewed members at 121 Financial branches and found most were not concerned about the combination, but some are “worried.”
Kenny Raley told News4Jax he is a member of both credit unions and believes they should stay separated.
One online group that is opposed to the merger is considering legal action, according to the report and its website at www.stopthemerge.com.
“The group ‘STOP the Merge’ said it has not been given access to the vote count and believes it should be public,” the report states.
The website notes it had backed a media campaign that included radio spots airplane banners. The site has not been updated since the merger vote, however, and does not identify who is behind it.
News4Jax said, however, the majority of people it spoke to said they have “no problems with the merger and believe it will be a benefit, despite the online banking issues VyStar had in 2022.”
Payout to Management
As CUToday.info was first to report here, 121 Financial disclosed in its merger filing with NCUA that it will be paying more than $900,000 in merger-related compensation to its five top execs, plus undisclosed amounts in SERPs, as part of the deal.
There was no payout to members.
As of Sept. 30, 2023, 121 Financial had posted $1.1 million in net income with capital of 9.24%.
The Ideal Valentine’s Day Gift
The biggest, best and freshest news reporting in credit unions remains free! Each morning CUToday.info delivers its daily Fresh Today news update offering the latest headlines and breaking news right to your email, with the easy-to-read headlines format allowing you to click on the stories that interest you most in order to learn more. So stop paying those bank-fee-like subscription prices from other so-called “news” publications!
If you haven’t yet signed up for the new email solution on which CUToday.info has partnered with ResponseGenius, you can do so here. Signing up requires less than one minute of your time—and it’s free!
Please note that after signing up you may need to go to your Spam/Junk folder and mark the morning headlines email as safe. CUToday.info does not provide its list of readers and emails to outside parties, and we will not be contacting you to sell you an extended warranty or sending you any links so you may cash in on an inheritance you didn’t know was coming.
And did we mention it’s free?