By GREGORY ZELLER //
All others may take cash, but Teachers Federal takes credit.
Unions, that is, as Hauppauge-based Teachers Federal Credit Union – one of the country’s largest federally insured credit unions – announced Monday the latest pick-up of its year-long spending spree: TFCU has acquired all member shares, along with some loans and other assets, of Woodside-based LOMTO Federal Credit Union.
The latest takeover announcement comes less than a month after TFCU announced its acquisition of Queens-based Melrose Credit Union, including Melrose’s 19,864 members and roughly $1.1 billion in assets.
Earlier this year, TFCU also picked up tiny Projector Federal Credit Union, a smaller financial firm providing banking services exclusively for employees of Melville-based Nikon USA – a little more than 100 of them, to be precise, with just over $500,000 in operational deposits.
Teachers Federal President and CEO Robert Allen said Monday the multiple acquisitions were part of a growth strategy that extends outside TFCU’s regional backyard.
“This is the third credit union that TFCU has acquired this year,” Allen told Innovate LI. “This strategically positions us for growth across the New York Metropolitan area and beyond.”
Robert Allen: Educated choices in TFCU growth plan.
LOMTO Federal Credit Union is a not-for-profit financial institution that was federally chartered in 1936, specifically to help members of the League of Mutual Taxi Owners Inc. – essentially, New York City-based taxi medallion owners.
LOMTO boasts 2,283 members and assets eclipsing $156.1 million, according to TFCU, which boasts 28 full-service branches in Queens, Nassau and Suffolk counties and more than 5,600 shared-service centers across the country – all immediately available to the newly acquired LOMTO members.
Actually, make that 30 branches now, counting LOMTO’s offices in Woodside and Manhattan, which will “continue in operation,” according to TFCU.
On Sunday, LOMTO was “liquidated” by the Virginia-based National Credit Union Administration. The defunct credit union circulated a “notice to members” announcing the closure and informing the 2,200-plus customers, “You are now a member of Teachers Federal Credit Union, with all rights and privileges.”
The NCUA – a federal agency that regulates and supervises the national credit-union system – officially reported Monday that LOMTO was closed and that its member services would be “uninterrupted” as TFCU took the reins.
The national agency also reported that the acquired credit union’s member accounts will remain insured by the NCUA’s Share Insurance Fund, which insures individual accounts and individual members’ interests in joint accounts up to $250,000.
Founded in 1952, TFCU is a not-for-profit, member-owned financial institution now boasting more than $7 billion in assets and 322,000-plus members, ranking it as one of the nation’s largest credit unions.
