Great Lakes Credit Union and East Chicago Fireman’s Credit Union Finalize Merger

Steve Bugg

​Great Lakes Credit Union (GLCU) and East Chicago Fireman’s Credit Union (ECFCU) are excited to announce that their merger was finalized on July 31st after a successful vote by ECFCU members and regulatory approval. Data conversion is scheduled for late August.

ECFCU is a Select Employee Group (SEG) credit union based in East Chicago, Indiana that exclusively serves East Chicago Fire Department employees and their family members through a single location. ECFCU was looking for a strategic partner that would allow them to offer more products and services, maintain membership, and meet growing regulatory compliance requirements.

GLCU will offer ECFCU members and their families access to an expanded suite of financial products and services, as well as robust digital banking tools. ECFCU members and their families also will gain access to 24/7 digital banking, shared branching in Northwest Indiana, a state-of-the-art ATM network, support through GLCU’s member contact center, as well as 24/7 support through GLCU’s AI assistant Olive and live chat.

GLCU has also gained regulatory approval to expand its field of membership to Lake County, Indiana, and Porter County, Indiana, adding to GLCU’s expansion into central Indiana earlier this year.

“GLCU is pleased that ECFCU sought us as a merger partner to expand their product and service offering to their membership in the competitive and changing financial services industry,” said Steve Bugg, CEO and President of GLCU. “We’re excited to welcome ECFCU members to the GLCU family.”

“It’s been my pleasure to serve as manager all these years. Changing times require change, and ECFCU is ready for change,” said ECFCU Manager Joanne DeYoung.

ECFCU brings 130 members and $600K in assets to GLCU and will continue to be served by the single location in East Chicago, Indiana.

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