It is not a question of if but when the $8.3 billion-asset Members 1st Credit Union in Enola, Pennsylvania, will hit the noteworthy $10 billion mark.

“Ten billion is inevitable for us,” said the credit union’s President and CEO Mike Wilson.

Tyfone sat down with Wilson during the CrossState Credit Union Association’s “Connect” conference in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

The company experienced 6% year-over-year asset growth in the first quarter of 2025, climbing from $7.8 billion in the year-ago quarter, according to call report data from the National Credit Union Administration.

Wilson said the credit union is positioning itself not only to reach the $10 billion milestone but to subsequently go into “sprint-growth mode.” That’s because of the compliance and regulatory impact that kicks in at $10 billion.

“You don’t want to tiptoe over that line, you need to leap over it,” Wilson said.

And that’s why Members 1st is now focused on streamlining its infrastructure and building – over the next two or three budget cycles – a “major, super highway” in terms of operational efficiency and system consolidations, Wilson said.

Members 1st is the third-largest credit union in Pennsylvania behind only the $9.7 billion-asset Police and Fire FCU in Philadelphia and the $9 billion-asset PSECU in Harrisburg.

“Yeah, so we’re all pretty close together now,” Wilson said.

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Still, the organization has some control over the timing of hitting $10 billion, and Wilson was a bit cagey when asked when it is likely to happen.

He said the company has run scenarios where it could hit the marker in as little as two to three years or as long as between five to seven years.

“But what we’re doing is just making sure that we walk before we run,” Wilson said. “The goal is not to get to 10 for the sake of getting to 10. The goal is for us to be an incredibly well-run organization. And we’re going to treat ourselves – and work with third parties to judge ourselves – as a $10 billion organization before we become one.”

And Members 1st’s growth has come almost exclusively organically. The company has done a little M&A over the years but not so much in the past 30 years.

Under former chief executive Bob Marquette, the company experienced aggressive organic growth. Marquette died in 2017 and was succeeded by George Nahodil, who brought a different kind of growth, Wilson said.

“It was more strategically focused on maximizing certain markets and making sure that we were helping them to reach their potential. Now we’re back in a full-on growth mode,” he said.

The company is happy to talk with smaller credit unions that might be looking for a partner, but Wilson said the reality is that the industry is stronger and more vibrant with more institutions.

Would Members 1st consider buying a bank?

Wilson was noncommittal, saying he has been heavily involved in advocacy, especially regarding the credit union tax exemption, and CUs buying banks always comes up in those conversations.

“There’s nothing that prohibits them from doing it,” he said of credit unions buying banks. “In fact, quite frankly, I’ve had some conversations with NCUA folks who think it’s a good thing. So it is something that we have to just kind of watch carefully.”

The credit union saw net income of $40.5 million in the first quarter of 2025, a 53% increase compared to the year-ago quarter. And that growth came on the heels of $127 million of earnings for the full year 2024.

Members 1st has more than 609,000 members that it serves with 61 branches.

“What we’re doing is just making sure that we walk before we run.”

 – Mike Wilson
President and CEO
Members 1st Credit Union