Credit Unions
Credit Union 1 CEO Mark Burgess explains how the Anchorage-based credit union serves Alaska’s ‘banking tundras’—areas lacking financial services. With 39 banking deserts and 20 potential deserts, covering 25% of the state’s population, the credit union uses interactive teller machines, remote loan officers, and technology workarounds to reach remote communities. Burgess highlights the high costs of communication infrastructure, the need for tailored products like auto loans, and the importance of local presence. Credit Union 1 opened three branches in 2025 and plans more, including Homer in summer 2026.
Dearborn, Michigan-based DFCU Financial will acquire Sarasota, Florida-based Gulfside Bank, the companies announced Monday. The deal value was not disclosed. This is DFCU's fourth Florida expansion in as many years, following acquisitions of First Citrus Bank, MidWestOne Bank's Naples and Fort Myers operations, and Winter Park National Bank. The acquisition adds two branches, $344.6 million in assets, $294 million in deposits, and $253 million in loans as of June 30. It fills a coverage gap between Tampa/St. Petersburg and Naples/Fort Myers, giving DFCU a presence in four of Florida's seven largest metro areas. The deal is expected to integrate services in the second half of 2027, with Gulfside branches rebranded under the DFCU name. Gulfside CEO Dennis Murphy will become DFCU's Sarasota/Manatee area president. The transaction is the eighth credit union-bank deal in 2026, a slowdown from 22 in 2024 and 16 last year. The ICBA criticized such deals, while America's Credit Unions CEO defended credit unions' tax-exempt status.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren has written to the NCUA's acting inspector general, Marta Erceg, demanding answers about a two-week lapse in leadership at the National Credit Union Administration in August, when all three board seats were vacant from former Chair Kyle Hauptman's departure on Aug. 7 until John Crews was sworn in on Aug. 24. Warren cited a Law360 report saying the situation appears to have no obvious modern precedent among federal financial regulators and asked how the agency operated during that time, who was responsible for decision-making, and whether the vacuum constrained or delayed payments to insured depositors of the failed African Diaspora Federal Credit Union. The NCUA OIG and NCUA did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Banking conferences in 2027 will offer leaders a chance to gauge the industry's direction amid anticipated changes such as increased M&A and tailored regulation, while areas like cryptocurrency frameworks remain uncertain. Events like Acquire or Be Acquired, ABA Conference for Community Bankers, Fintech Meetup, ICBA Live, ABA Washington Summit, CBA Live, The Financial Brand Forum, National Credit Union CEO Roundtable, and ABA Risk and Compliance Conference provide opportunities to connect with peers, explore emerging technologies like AI, and navigate evolving compliance expectations.
Gulf Winds Credit Union, based in Pensacola, Florida, has agreed to buy Monroeville, Alabama-based Peoples Exchange Bank, marking its second whole-bank acquisition in about a month and the seventh proposed credit union-bank deal this year. The acquisition will give Gulf Winds a second location in Monroeville and a fourth in Alabama, expanding its assets to $1.75 billion. Peoples Exchange Bank has one branch and $98.6 million in assets. Gulf Winds announced last month it would buy Madison County Community Bank and rebrand as TruWorth Credit Union next spring. CEO Daniel Souers called the two acquisitions 'the first chapter of TruWorth.' Final regulatory approval is expected in mid-2027, with integration by early 2028. The pace of credit union-bank deals has slowed in 2026, with seven through the first nine months, down from 16 last year and a record 22 in 2024. The ICBA continues to urge lawmakers to end the federal tax exemption for credit unions with $1 billion or more in assets, while America's Credit Unions CEO Scott Simpson has said changes to the tax code could negatively impact how credit unions help consumers and communities.
Family First Credit Union CEO Jane Smith is no longer employed by the $96.8 million-asset institution after a photo she created using ChatGPT, which showed her family in 'Lake America' sweatshirts, went viral and sparked outrage in Canada. The credit union named COO Jason Acosta as interim CEO and apologized. Smith said the image was AI-generated and meant as a joke about President Trump's executive order renaming Lake Ontario, but she acknowledged it was insensitive and hurtful. The incident occurred around the anniversary of 9/11, drawing criticism from Canadians.
The Justice Department on Friday urged the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse a district court order reinstating two fired National Credit Union Administration board members, Todd Harper and Tanya Otsuka. The DOJ argued that the NCUA is not the Federal Reserve and that Congress did not provide statutory removal restrictions for the NCUA, so the President may remove board members at will. Quoting James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and the 1903 case Shurtleff v. U.S., the DOJ contended that the district court erred in reinstating Harper and Otsuka and that equitable relief should not finally determine removal. Harper and Otsuka had argued the NCUA was modeled after the Fed and should have similar independence.
Navy Federal Credit Union's VP of fraud and physical security, Carrie Foran Sepulveda, discusses the shift from fraud to scams, where criminals trick customers into moving money. Fraud attempts fell about 25% from 2024 to 2025, but scams are rising. Navy Federal uses an AI-based platform from Cube AI that deploys bots to converse with scammers and identify scam accounts, enabling the credit union to warn members. The $204 billion-asset credit union has prevented about $125 million in wire scam losses over the past 19 months. It has also stopped facilitating transfers when red flags are present, discontinuing a prior affidavit practice after a lawsuit. Foran Sepulveda calls for clearer rules on holding funds in suspected scam cases.
Faced with a surge in fraud cases targeting elderly customers, Fifth Third Bank and Star One Credit Union are striving to intervene early during ongoing scams by expanding anti-fraud teams, deploying detection tools, conducting employee training, and enhancing information sharing.
Gulf Winds Credit Union, based in Pensacola, Florida, has agreed to acquire Madison County Community Bank of Madison, Florida. Terms were not disclosed. The credit union will also change its name to TruWorth Credit Union in spring 2027. The combined entity will have approximately $1.7 billion in assets, 15 branches across Florida and Alabama, and 87,000 members. Regulatory approval is expected in mid-2027, with integration by 2028. Gulf Winds has about $1.3 billion in assets and was founded in 1954. Madison County Community Bank, established in 1999, has about $212 million in assets and operates in Madison and Taylor counties. Bank employees will remain, and neither location will close. The deal is the sixth whole-bank purchase by a credit union announced this year. Credit union-bank deals have slowed in 2026, with only four announced in the first six months compared with 15 in 2025 and a record 20 in 2024, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. The ICBA continues to urge lawmakers to end the federal tax exemption for credit unions with $1 billion or more in assets, while America's Credit Unions has said changes could negatively impact credit unions' ability to help consumers and communities.