Credit Union and Bank Star Ratings are all now based on June 30, 2026 financial data.
The NCUA’s Q2 2026 data shows a continuing trend of credit union industry consolidation: the number of federally insured credit unions declined, while total membership and assets increased.
One driver is the growing number of community banks being acquired by credit unions.
JRN by Bauer 43:37, September 23, 2026
All Credit Union Star-Ratings Newly Updated
On September 14th, the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) finally released second quarter credit union financial data and Bauer’s analysts worked night and day to get new ratings out to you by the end of that week.
The number of federally insured credit unions declined once again as the number of members and the industry assets continue to climb. This phenomenon is the result of continued industry consolidation combined with the fact that more credit unions are acquiring community banks.
In the first six months of 2026, 12 community banks were acquired (at least partially) by credit unions. They were:
Some of the more notable transactions include 5-Star Peoples Bank, Chestertown, MD ($293 million in assets) which was acquired by $2.176 billion asset 5-Star Hanscom Federal Credit Union, Hanscom Air Force Base, MA (C-9095). Hanscom Airforce Base was built during WWII on what was formerly a large tract of farmland northwest of Boston and recently celebrated its 79th Anniversary.
Hanscom FCU was chartered a few years later - in 1953. Over the years Hanscom FCU has acquired roughly a dozen other credit unions and by the end of the third quarter 2025, Hanscom had assets totaling more than $1.8 billion. At year-end, those assets had risen to $2.2 billion and membership topped 105,800.
Since the acquisition, however, assets, membership and deposits have all dropped. That was probably not what it was hoping for with this transaction, but at least loans are increasing.
This next one we consider a rescue, although the bank did not fail. 5-Star NuMark Credit Union, Joliet, IL (C-61447), an $885 million asset credit union acquired Zero-Star Lemont National Bank, a $49 million asset bank, in Lemont, IL. Lemont NB had been serving its community since 1901; its assets peaking at just under $70 million in 2024, but losses started piling up. Lemont NB posted its final profit in fourth quarter of 2023. By the end of 2025, Lemont was “Significantly Undercapitalized” by regulatory prompt corrective action standards.
Membership and assets in the NuMark-Lemont transaction seem to be sticking. They are also sticking in this next combination, although the details are a bit different. Instead of a straight merger, acquisition or even a rescue, on January 1, 2026, 2-Star Generations Bank, Seneca Falls, NY sold the majority of its $347 million in assets to 5-Star ESL Federal Credit Union, Rochester, NY (C-24563). However, Generations Bank remained open until June 30th of this year.
As for ESL Federal Credit Union, it now boasts 34 branch offices in the Greater Rochester and Finger Lakes regions of New York.
There are several more bank acquisitions by credit unions in the works like the $4.4 billion asset 5-Star GECU Federal Credit Union, El Paso, TX’s (C-24941) agreement to buy 5-Star Bank of the Southwest, Roswell, NM (2247), a $176 million asset bank with 13 branch locations. All necessary approvals have been received for this transaction and it is slated to be completed on November 1st.
Another agreement has received regulatory approval. 4-Star Alabama One Credit Union, Tuscaloosa, AL (C-68595) (a $1.5 billion credit union celebrating its 75th Anniversary) will acquire 5-Star Peoples Independent Bank, Boaz, AL (27233) (a $486 million bank). This is not Alabama One’s first bank acquisition. It took over the $126 million asset First Bank, Wadley, AL in 2023.
Another, $3.2 billion asset 5-Star Community First CU of Florida, Jacksonville (C-67290), has plans to acquire a $347 million bank, 5-Star First Southern Bank, Waycross, GA (10055).
Finally, 5-Star Landmark Credit Union, Brookfield, WI (C-66751), a $7.9 billion asset credit union with 37 branches, is on a bit of a streak right now. It acquired Alloy Employees Credit Union in March, then the sole Illinois branch (McHenry, IL) of 5-Star North Shore Bank, Waukegan, IL (B-28679) and now has agreed to acquire 4-Star American National Bank – Fox Cities, Appleton, WI (33812), a $432 million bank with one location.
If you notice the size of acquiring credit unions seems to keep getting larger, it is not your imagination. The entire industry is getting larger. Average assets increased 5.2% between June 30, 2025 and June 30, 2026. The size of the banks being acquired is also getting larger. When the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis first reported on this phenomenon back in 2019, all of the acquired banks up to that point had been “well under the $500 million mark”.
That is no longer the case. 5-Star Meadows Bank, Las Vegas, NV had assets of nearly $1.5 billion when it was acquired by 5-Star America First FCU, Riverdale, UT (C-24694) on June 1st. Two other banks purchased by credit unions this year also had assets well north of the $500 million mark.
That St. Louis Fed article cited a 2018 survey of community banks that found regulatory compliance costs (as a percent of noninterest expense) are much higher in small banks than larger banks. That could be a big factor for smaller banks looking to be purchased.
For credit unions, acquiring an established bank is the fastest way to expand into new areas, business lending for example.
Whatever the reason, these transactions do not seem to be going away. While they do seem to be getting more frequent, credit union-bank acquisitions accounted for less than 12% of all bank acquisitions in the first half of 2026. We’ll have more bank-bank action next week (there were 90 of those).