LITTLE ROCK, Ark.–Orion FCU continues to expand into Arkansas and has also discussed additional expansion into Mississippi.
The Memphis-based credit union, which merged in Arkansas Employees FCU in early 2018, has been approved to build a new branch in Little Rock and said it has plans further expansion along the I-40 corridor, which connects the two cities, according to the Daily Memphian.
“We are expanding in the Little Rock market with plans for two to three additional locations there,” Ashley McAdams, chief financial officer for Orion FCU, told the publication. “We will start construction of a branch in Little Rock in the next three months, and we are looking at different opportunities to expand in Little Rock.”
Orion FCU told the Daily Memphian it must grow in order to gain economies of scale to provide competitive products and services.
The credit union also has several other branch projects underway in Memphis.
Requests to Add Branches
CEO Daniel Weickenand said the credit union has also received requests to add branches in North Mississippi.
“We’re attracted to a variety of markets so we can survive whether economics are good, bad or indifferent,” Weickenand told the Daily Memphian. “You can’t be a master of one thing. If that goes away, you’re done for.”
Weickenand told the publication a top priority also remains putting significant efforts into its digital solutions, and he questioned whether younger generations will walk into a branch in the future.
“In the future, I think branches will still be around, but there may not be as many of them. It’s a unique time in the financial services industry,” he was quoted as saying.
The $800-million Orion FCU has more than 70,000 members.