Sutherland Credit Union and Manly Warringah Credit Union plan to merge, and the pair are scouting for further partners.The two Sydney-based credit unions plan to amalgamate under the name Strategic Partnerships Group Limited. The merger will formally comprise a transfer of engagements of MWCU to Sutherland. They announced the plan just before Christmas.The new entity will have combined assets of around A$320 million. Both credit unions reported profits below the industry average return on equity of 7.3 per cent last year.The new credit union will retain the trading names of Sutherland and Northern Beaches Credit Union (the latter used by MWCU).David Hall, chief executive of Sutherland, confirmed the choice of name, Strategic Partnerships, and pointed to an interest in seeking further unions."That's what the name is about, really. It's something we can take forward to other credit unions in the future."[This]… continues to be a period in the reduction in the number of credit unions, and that's the basis of the name."Amalgamations have cut the number of credit unions to 92, from 100, over the year to September 2012.  The number of entities is two-thirds that of five years ago.