LINCOLN, Neb.–Just two years after starting up with a goal of serving low-income communities, a tiny CU here has been merged.
The $304,000 Community Hope Credit Union has been merged into the $992-million Cobalt Credit Union, which is based in Council Bluffs, Iowa. In a news release, Cobalt Credit Union said it had been contacted by both NCUA and the Iowa league about potentially merging in Community Hope CU.
According to Community Hope CU’s 5300, its assets had declined by approximately $68,000 over the previous quarter, and it reported a net loss of $93,000 during Q2.
As a start-up, the CU had remained well capitalized, showing net worth of 17.2% as of the second quarter. One year earlier the CU had reported net worth of more than 60%, due in part to non-member deposits from various charitable organizations.
Community Hope officially received its charter in October of 2017 to serve low-income areas of Lincoln, Neb. “Most traditional lending by banks and credit unions is based on collateral and capital. We are going to be focusing on character,” a founder of the credit union said at the time it launched.
Cobalt said it will maintain the Community Hope branch location at 1625 N St. open in addition to another branch it already has in Lincoln. At the time of the merger Community Hope FCU had approximately 200 members.