For the first time ever, a West Virginia-based community bank plans to sell itself to a credit union.

REV Federal Credit Union in Summerville, South Carolina, said it agreed to acquire the $149 million-asset First Neighborhood Bank in Spencer, West Virginia.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, nor was the expected timing on the closing.

This is the first bank acquisition for the $1.1 billion-asset REV FCU.

“Our mission is growth with purpose,” said REV FCU’s President and CEO Jason Lee in a press release Tuesday. “This purpose is centered around member impact, social impact, economic impact and ensuring our long-term survivability.”

The deal marks the credit union’s third expansion in the last four-years, and its first outside of the Carolinas.

REV currently serves more than 67,000 members with 11 branches in South Carolina and four in North Carolina. The credit union said it will gain more than 7,000 new members through the acquisition.

Dave Righter, CEO of First Neighborhood Bank, said REV has a proven track record of
creating significant impact in the communities it serves.

“I’m excited to bring its mission of ‘growth with purpose’ to West Virginia and enhance our ability to serve the financial needs of this region,” he said in the release.

The deal is the 15th announced in 2024 in which a credit union is buying a bank. Most recently, U.S. Eagle Federal Credit Union said it plans to acquire Southwest Capital Bank.

The most such deals ever announced in a calendar year was 16 in 2022. There were 11 credit union-buying-bank deals announced last year.

Michael Bell, an attorney at Honigman who advised REV, said in an interview the transaction underscores the growing appeal of these deals to banks across the country.

“When community based financial institutions partner together Main Street America wins,” Bell said.

The Independent Community Bankers of America disagrees.

“As public scrutiny of these inappropriate deals and the number of credit union purchases of taxpaying community banks have raced past record highs, policymakers must protect local communities by ending the credit union tax exemption,” ICBA President and CEO Rebeca Romero Rainey said in a statement.

Heritage Trust Federal Credit Union rebranded as REV in 2020.

The credit union earned roughly $3.3 million in the first half of 2024, a 2% increase compared to a year earlier, according to call report data from the National Credit Union Administration.

“Through this partnership, we want to be actively engaged in the community and create this level of impact in the Mid-Ohio Valley region.”

 – Jason Lee
President & CEO
REV FCU