Sunmark Credit Union is headquartered on Troy Schenectady Road in Latham.
Sunmark Credit Union said it has received approval to acquire another small credit union, Columbia-Greene Federal Credit Union in Hudson.
Columbia-Greene members approved the merger as well as a conversion from a federally chartered credit union to a state-chartered one. The credit union has two branches, in Hudson and Coxsackie, with around $36 million in assets and 5,000 members. The acquisition is expected to close on Nov. 30.
It is the second acquisition announcement for Sunmark this week. Sunmark announced on Wednesday that it received approval to acquire a Westchester County-based credit union, Hudson River Financial Federal Credit Union in Mohegan Lake, with $70 million in assets and around 7,000 members.
Sunmark converted to a state-chartered credit union from a federally chartered institution in early 2020, signaling a change in strategy. The move allowed Sunmark to expand the geography from which it can draw members, and potentially grow its pool of customers.
The credit union previously had a community charter, meaning members could be anyone who lives or works in six counties: Albany, Schenectady, Saratoga, Rensselaer, Montgomery and Schoharie. With the state charter, members can be anyone in those counties along with those who live and work in Columbia, Greene, Onondaga, Putnam, Rockland and Westchester counties.
Sunmark started in 1937 as a credit union for General Electric employees.
Today, Sunmark has more than 64,000 members among 10 branches in Albany, Saratoga, Schenectady and Rensselaer counties. It is the third-largest credit union in the region. Sunmark had $810 million in assets in 2020.
By Chelsea Diana
Albany Business Review