BCCU helps Unity past $1bn milestone
Bankstown City Unity Bank will be the name used, from July, for the former BCCU as a division of Unity Bank.The ranks of mutual banks will include one more re-labelled entity when Bankstown City Credit Union becomes, in effect, a division of Unity Bank.More than 90 per cent of members of Bankstown City Credit Union deciding on the proposal last night voted in favour of a merger with Unity Bank (the name adopted from March by the former Maritime, Mining & Power Credit Union).BCCU will become the fourth credit union to amalgamate into Unity Bank since the MMPCU (as it was) set out to absorb smaller mutuals in 2008. Around 20 predecessor credit unions, most with industrial bonds, have blended into today's bank, which has around A$1.1 billion in assets. This is still less than a tenth of the scale of sector leader, Credit Union Australia.Two of the current BCCU directors will join the Unity Bank board, taking the number to 13.This merger is a mite more quirky than some. Mark Genovese, chief executive of Unity Bank (and also a Cuscal director) is the son of a former BCCU general manager who served that ADI for decades.