Community CPS Australia and Alliance One Credit Union said this week that they were in merger discussions.  The merger would be one of the larger credit union mergers in some time and the first for CPS in four years. The credit union is the sector's fourth-largest entity.Alliance One Credit Union is based in Whyalla, South Australia and has branch operations extending to Port Lincoln, Clare and Roxby Downs. It has 16,000 members, 53 staff and approximately A$233 million in assets. Community CPS, based in Adelaide, has 186,000 members and operates in metropolitan Adelaide, as well as regionally, in Port Augusta, Gawler and Victor Harbor.  It has $3.6 billion in assets.CPS operates as Wagga Mutual Credit Union in Wagga Wagga, Companion Credit Union in the Hunter Valley and the United Community Credit Union in Western Australia.In an announcement on the Alliance One website, Phil Lynch, the chief executive, said: "Our business has been growing steadily but competition in the marketplace is intensifying… The merger makes good business sense for both organisations, who share a fierce commitment to maintaining existing staffing and branch structures, returning value to members and actively supporting local communities."Both credit unions have reported profits (measured as return on net assets) in line with or better than industry averages in recent years. Asset growth has also been in line with or better than industry averages.The expanded organisation will have a combined membership base of around 200,000.