A credit union in Charleston, SC, on Thursday announced its expansion in North Carolina by acquiring two small credit unions.

REV Federal Credit Union ($ 741.1 million in assets, 51,714 members) said it has received NCUA approval for mergers involving Riegelwood Federal Credit Union of Riegelwood, NC ($ 101.6 million in assets, 12,333 members) and Hamlet Federal Credit Union of Hamlet, NC ($ 18.2 million in assets, 2,510 members).

The Hamlet merger is expected to be finalized in June and Riegelwood in November, once the base conversions are complete.

As of December 31, the NCUA has listed REV as having 17 locations, including its headquarters and some without general public access, such as high schools and an Air Force base. The NCUA has listed two branches each for other credit unions. “Once credit unions are fully integrated, REV will have a branch network of 15 locations across the Carolinas, serving a total of 66,000 members and $ 900 million in assets,” the press release said. REV.

The press release said REV will achieve economies of scale with the mergers, but it also said it will retain employees at both credit unions.

REV President / CEO Jason Lee said the mergers reflect “our spirit of cooperation.”

“Together, we will have a greater impact on the financial well-being of thousands of people across North Carolina,” said Lee. “By working alongside our new team members in the Rockingham and Wilmington markets, we will increase the net social and economic impact in these communities.”

Riegelwood was founded in 1953 for the employees of the Riegel Paper Board Company. Riegelwood is located in Columbus County, on the Cape Fear River, 23 miles west of Wilmington, North Carolina. Its Leland branch is 15 miles east of Brunswick County.

Riegelwood is open to residents, workers and students of Columbus and the counties of northern Brunswick. It listed its potential members as 36,999 as of December 31.

For the 12 months ending December 31, Riegelwood earned $ 298,408, down 67.8% from 2019. His ROA was 0.31%, up from 0.96% in 2019.

Much of the decrease comes from a loan loss allowance of $ 213,815 in the fourth quarter, more than double its allowance for the fourth quarter of 2019. As a result, it recorded a net loss of $ 79,497 during the quarter. He ended the year with a net worth ratio of 14.26%, down 96 basis points from a year earlier.

As a small credit union, Riegelwood lacked the resources to provide members with access to the products and services they wanted and deserved, ”said June Bigford, President and CEO of Riegelwood, in the press release. “I knew that without the right partner, we couldn’t keep moving forward. We were fortunate to find Jason and REV because they share our values ​​and are as passionate as we are about supporting our community.

Hamlet is based 80 miles east of Charlotte, in a rural part of North Carolina that was once dotted with textile factories. He has a branch in Laurinburg, 16 miles further east. The two cities are just north of the South Carolina border.

The credit union’s equity ratio fell below 7% in 2018 and the NCUA began classifying it as “under-capitalized” in 2019.

For the 12 months ending December 31, Hamlet gained $ 75,080, compared to a loss of $ 97,427 in 2019. His ROA was 0.45%, up 108 basis points.

Its interest and fee income fell about 30% last year, as its loan receivables fell 39% to $ 1.2 million.

Its 2020 income was boosted by a gain of $ 101,700 on loan loss provisions taken in the first nine months. However, in the fourth quarter, it lost $ 16,868 even though it did not record any allowance for loan losses (or gains). That compared to a gain of $ 13,061 in the fourth quarter of 2019.

Hamlet’s net worth ratio was 5.32% as of Dec.31, down 64 basis points from the previous year.

REV started as Charleston Air Base Federal Credit Union in 1955 and changed its name to Heritage Trust Federal Credit Union in 1986 and REV in March 2020.

REV’s net profit increased 46.5% to $ 4.8 million in 2020, with loan originations increasing 60.7% to $ 322.8 million. ROA was 0.70%, up 18 basis points from a year earlier.

REV ended 2020 with a net worth ratio of 9.19%, down 61bp from the previous year.