The federal regulator approved 157 combinations last year, while credit union acquisitions of banks remain near record levels.

The nation’s credit unions continued to consolidate in 2025, though at a slightly slower pace than the year before, according to new data from the National Credit Union Administration.

The regulator approved 36 mergers in the fourth quarter, bringing the annual total to 157. That figure was down modestly from 162 approved consolidations in 2024 but above the 145 recorded in 2023, underscoring a steady, if uneven, reshaping of the cooperative financial sector.

Quarterly activity fluctuated throughout the year. The NCUA signed off on 35 mergers in the first quarter, 45 in the second and 41 in the third, before activity eased in the final months of the year, according to the agency’s 2025 fourth-quarter Merger Activity and Insurance Report.

Most combinations were driven by strategy rather than distress. Of the 36 mergers approved in the fourth quarter, 25 were attributed to expanded services. Five involved institutions in poor financial condition, four cited an inability to obtain officials, one was tied to poor management and one reflected a loss or decline in field of membership.

The largest fourth-quarter transaction approved by the regulator involved the $371 million Fort Financial Federal Credit Union in Fort Wayne, Ind., which was set to merge into the $655 million INOVA Federal Credit Union in Elkhart, Ind. Yet regulatory approval did not guarantee completion. In January, members of Fort Financial voted down the proposed deal, highlighting a crucial distinction: NCUA approval does not necessarily mean that members have endorsed a merger or that management will ultimately proceed.

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While traditional credit union-to-credit union combinations remain the dominant form of consolidation, credit union acquisitions of banks have become an increasingly prominent feature of the landscape.

Sixteen credit union-bank deals were announced in 2025, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence — slightly below the record 22 announced in 2024 but far above levels seen earlier in the decade. The momentum has carried into 2026.

Peoples Independent Bancshares Inc., the holding company for Peoples Independent Bank, agreed to sell substantially all of the bank’s assets and liabilities to Alabama ONE Credit Union. In a separate transaction, Zeal Credit Union of Livonia, Mich., and The Miners State Bank of Iron River said Zeal would acquire substantially all of the bank’s assets and liabilities in an all-cash deal.

To supporters, such acquisitions offer credit unions a pathway to geographic expansion and asset growth. Critics, particularly in the banking industry, argue that tax-exempt cooperatives purchasing taxpaying banks raises competitive concerns.

For now, the data suggest that consolidation within the credit union system remains persistent but not accelerating dramatically. Even with a modest decline from 2024, last year’s total signals an industry still recalibrating — balancing financial pressures, leadership succession challenges and the strategic pursuit of scale in an increasingly competitive financial services market.