The East Kootenay Community Credit Union (EKC) and Heritage Credit Union will move ahead with their merger and become StellerVista Credit Union as of Jan. 1.
EKC officials said this comes after members of both credit unions voted in favour of the change.
While the merger will be made official in the near future, other changes will be rolled out over several months.
“We will see a slow transition into the new credit union, so members won’t see a lot of changes right away,” said Jody Burk CEO of EKC. “The main changes will occur in October, after our banking system conversion for the Heritage Credit Union members.”
Burk said the move will help both organizations stay active.
“Both credit union boards determined that coming together at this time allows us to position ourselves for the future and continue to provide the level of service we do today, and help us invest in technologies,” said Burk. “Part of that investing in technologies is to attract more young adults into the membership of our credit union.”
Officials said members of both credit unions made the decision in November and December through a vote, which passed with overwhelming support.
“We should give a big thank you to our members, both at EKC and Heritage Credit union, for coming out and voting and showing our directors that this was the direction that they wanted us to go,” said Burk.
Branches of the newly formed StellerVista Credit Union will be located in Greenwood, Castlegar, Slocan Park, Cranbrook, Fernie, Sparwood, and Elkford.