MUNA Federal Credit Union, Pinnacle Credit Union, and RVA Financial Mutually Announce their Intent to Merge

MUNA Federal Credit Union, Pinnacle Credit Union, and RVA Financial are excited to announce their plans to merge pending regulatory approval and membership votes. If approved, the organizations will maintain their individual brands for a short time as they work together to determine a unified brand. The organization’s combined assets would be approximately $216 million serving more than 23,000 members with 5 branches across Virginia, Mississippi, and Georgia.
 
This merger represents a mutually advantageous partnership between three member-focused credit unions committed to providing exceptional service while offering competitive products and access to their members and the communities they serve. In a global financial sector that is changing, these organizations are committed to a collaborative pooling of resources and talent coupled with a mission to serve members, employees, and communities better.

All three credit unions are in agreement that in today’s highly regulated, high-tech environment, it is becoming more difficult for smaller credit unions to compete in everything from technology to recruiting. This is what makes the idea of smaller credit unions working together collaboratively to pool resources and do things together for the good of their members a strategy some credit unions are choosing to pursue. The idea of pooling resources is the very foundation credit unions were built on. The credit union industry remains steadfast in its mantra of “people helping people” and mergers are just one way to do this.

Biffle (Bo) Pittman, Jr., current President/CEO of MUNA Federal Credit Union states,  “As the CEO of MUNA Federal Credit Union, I’m excited about this opportunity to combine 3 strong and financially healthy credit unions, combining our resources and talent for the benefit of members, employees, and communities. This partnership is rooted in MUNA’s mission to be a dedicated and caring team supporting our member's financial needs with honest, motivated, and reputable service before self.”

All three credit unions share the same core system, making a system conversion a much easier process for members and employees. “As credit unions, we are committed to our roots and the communities we were started in,” says Matt Selke, President/CEO of Pinnacle Credit Union. “We have a deep history in our community.  Pinnacle is the second oldest credit union in the state of Georgia. Continuing to maintain our community feel, all while gaining efficiencies and improving the member experience through additional product and service offerings and access points, is a true win-win and we can’t wait to get started!”

The merged Credit Union will also be able to offer a 24/7 Contact Center, Home Equity Loans, Business Lending, and ITM’s, something not all 3 of these organizations are currently offering. Richard Preble, President/CEO of RVA Financial states, ”Together we would be able to provide our members, and prospective members access to even more products and services now and in the future, offer more professional growth opportunities for employees, and be able to invest more deeply in the communities we serve. We’re excited about the benefits this partnership offers and see this as the beginning of something really great happening in our industry. When you have the right partners and the right motives, it supports what this industry is all about.”

Another benefit of this merger is the fact that RVA Financial is Community Development Fund Instition (CDFI) certified and once combined the three credit unions will remain committed to serving low income communities and providing financial services to people who lack access to financial products, services, and lending.

In the combined organization, Bo Pittman, current President/CEO of MUNA would be the CEO and Regional President, Matt Selke, current President/CEO of Pinnacle would be the Chief Financial Officer and Regional President, and Rick Preble, current President/CEO of RVA Financial would be the Chief Operations Officer and Regional President.
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As Member-owned cooperatives, and under the guidelines of the National Credit Union Association, full merger approval is contingent upon MUNA and Pinnacle member approval. Upon that approval, the entities will become one sometime in early 2023. 

As the merger process moves forward, all three credit unions will provide information to their respective Memberships via their websites (www.munafederal.com, www.pinnaclecu.org, and www.rvafinancial.com), and other applicable communication channels.

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