Financial Center First adding Muncie credit union through merger

Indianapolis-based Financial Center First Credit Union is adding Ball State Federal Credit Union to its fold through a merger.

Financial Center announced Wednesday that the merger was approved by 77% of its membership in a mid-July vote with an effective date of Nov. 1.

The merged credit union will have more than $750 million in assets and more than 75,000 members in central Indiana after Ball State FCU brings $120 million in assets and about 7,000 members to the mix. The credit union will remain one of the five largest in the area in terms of assets.

Ball State FCU will do business as Ball State Financial, allowing it to retain its affiliation with Ball State University.

Randy Glassburn, CEO of Ball State FCU for more than 32 years, plans to retire at the end of 2020. Kevin Ryan, president and CEO of Financial Center, will lead the combined credit union.

Ball State FCU has primarily served members at the university and in Muncie, but it will assume Financial Center’s state charter as part of the merger, expanding its 12-county footprint to include Delaware, Henry and Madison counties and opening up the Interstate 69 corridor between Indianapolis and Muncie to membership eligibility.

Financial Center in 2015 changed from a federal to a state charter—eliminating a restriction preventing it from serving customers outside the 10-county Indianapolis area. Under federal charters, credit unions can serve either a specific geographic area or specific companies no matter where employees live.

Financial Center plans to remodel Ball State FCU’s main office in 2021, adding a learning center and financial library.

Last year, Financial Center added Kokomo Heritage Federal Credit Union through a merger and built a 3,450-square-foot branch in Kokomo, giving it eight branches overall.

Chartered in 1953, Financial Center also has six branches in Indianapolis and one in Greenwood.