El Paso’s largest credit union looks to expand New Mexico operations with acquisition

El Paso’s largest credit union is looking to make a push into New Mexico, announcing this week that it has agreed to purchase Roswell-based Bank of the Southwest.

The credit union, GECU, will purchase the New Mexico bank’s 11 locations and will assume all liabilities, officials said Monday. Crystal Long, president and CEO of GECU, declined to comment on how much the credit union will pay in the all-cash transaction.

It’s unclear when the transaction will go through. The deal is still subject to regulatory approvals from the National Credit Union Administration, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the New Mexico Financial Institutions Division.

“We have a vision of expanding our positive impact to help even more people and families on their financial journey and this acquisition brings us closer to this mission,” Long said in a statement. “Bank of the Southwest has been a cornerstone of the New Mexico financial community, and we look forward to building on (its) legacy by offering our range of exceptional financial products and services and instilling our ‘people helping people’ philosophy.”

The transaction, if approved, will add to GECU’s growing presence, including in New Mexico. In March, the credit union opened its first location in the state in Las Cruces, Long said. The credit union has more than two dozen locations spread across Texas, mostly in El Paso but also in Horizon, Texas, just outside of city limits.

Bank of the Southwest, on the other hand, has locations spread across Roswell, Las Cruces, Hatch and Truth or Consequences, as well as in northwestern New Mexico towns Farmington, Kirtland and Bloomfield.

GECU boasts some 439,000 members and $4.4 billion in assets. Once the deal is complete, Long said the El Paso-based credit union will bump the number of members to over 440,000 and assets to $4.7 billion.

All Bank of the Southwest locations and services will operate under the GECU name once the deal is approved, the credit union said.

The deal follows a string of others in recent months that have grown the presence of New Mexico’s financial institutions. In June, Southwest Federal Credit Union merged with First Financial Credit Union. Sunward Federal Credit Union also closed a deal in March to take over the Albuquerque operations of Utah-based Mountain America Credit Union.

Nusenda Credit Union last year also closed a deal for Western Heritage Bank, giving New Mexico’s largest credit union a larger presence in southern New Mexico and El Paso.

In a statement, Bank of the Southwest CEO K. Andrew Hogan said GECU’s “commitment to employees, members, and communities aligns perfectly with our values at Bank of Southwest.”

“Together we look forward to enhancing our ability to expand commercial lending and our offerings to more communities in New Mexico with GECU’s robust products and services and advanced technology solutions,” Hogan said.