ANNOUNCEMENT
PSCU and Co‑op Solutions Close Deal to Combine
The combination agreement has been overwhelmingly approved by Owners and shareholders of both PSCU and Co‑op, as well as all federal regulators, creating the premier fintech solutions provider for credit unions.
Better Together: A Look At Our Combined Organization
Nearly 5,000 employees
Over $1.3 billion in revenue
Serving nearly 5,000 financial institutions
Industry assets for more than 40 years
Providing the Best of the Best
An end-to-end ecosystem for credit unions integrating offerings from both organizations
- Credit Processing
- Debit Processing
- ATM Network
- Fraud & Risk Management
- Recovery Solutions
- Data Insights & Analytics
- Contact Center Services & Solutions
- Integration
- ACH & Wire
- Digital Banking
- Shared Branching
- Digital Lending
- Card Management
- Instant Payments
- POS Network
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
- While PSCU and Co-op have explored similar transactions in the past, we believe that now is the right time for this combination because the speed of change continues to accelerate, along with the need to deliver more complex technology and solutions for credit unions and their members.
- Both companies are established leaders in the credit union space, but we must also evolve to support our credit unions and their long-term success. In short, we believe that PSCU and Co-op are stronger together than we are separately.
- This is a transformative opportunity for our clients and both companies. We are combining talented employees, complementary solutions, key partnerships and client relationships to create a $1.3 billion revenue organization that is the premier fintech solutions provider for credit unions, making our combined organization an even more competitive player in the payments ecosystem and providing our credit unions with integrated fintech solutions that deliver personalized, connected experiences. Benefits to our credit unions include:
- An open environment with integrated solutions to create an enhanced, end-to-end product portfolio with offerings from each organization – including access to instant payments, data analytics, digital banking, fraud and risk management, contact center solutions and services, collections, a credit union debit network, an ATM network and shared branching.
- Increased scale, meaningful value and additional growth opportunities for credit unions through enhanced product development resources, optimized third-party spend and reduced overhead to allow for expanded levels of re-investment back into the combined company, supporting a continued growth trajectory and meeting the future fintech needs of credit unions and their members.
- A combined talent base that optimizes service, creating the most knowledgeable and experienced team serving the credit union industry.
- Innovative tools to expand self-service capabilities and increase efficiency.
- Solution bundling opportunities to better deliver efficient capabilities to credit unions of all sizes.
- Continued support and advocacy via a collective voice (including the ongoing fight against interchange legislation), while leveraging the two organizations’ mutual commitments to further champion diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in the credit union industry.
- Chuck Fagan will serve as President and CEO of the new combined organization.
- Reporting to Fagan, the executive leadership team of PSCU/Co-op Solutions includes the following members:
- Brian Caldarelli, EVP, Chief Administrative Officer
- Tom Gandre, EVP, Chief Technology Officer
- Lynn Heckler, EVP, Chief Culture Officer
- Dean Michaels, EVP, Chief Operations Officer
- Cheryl Middleton Jones, EVP, Chief People Officer
- Brandi Quinn, EVP, Chief of Staff and Corporate Governance
- Brian Scott, EVP, Chief Growth Officer
- Denise Stevens, EVP, Chief Product Officer
- Scott Wagner, EVP, Strategic Partnerships
- Dean Young, EVP, Chief Service Officer
- Additional details about the new organization’s organizational structure will be announced in the coming weeks/months.
- The combined Board of Managers (formerly known as Board of Directors) includes credit union CEO representation from both current Boards, including nine managers from PSCU and four managers from Co-op, as previously announced on Nov. 6.
- Yes, the combined company is still a credit union service organization (CUSO).
- Both companies are fully committed to working together to ensure a smooth transition on behalf of clients and employees of both entities. Because both companies share a similar mission and purpose, the intent is to combine two vibrant cultures into one synergistic combination that will benefit the greater credit union movement.
- The leadership teams of both companies have established an Integration Management Office (IMO), with dedicated personnel from both companies who will plan and oversee bringing the organizations together – with a focus on maintaining both the outstanding service that our clients expect and the outstanding cultures of both organizations. The full integration of the companies will occur over several years, because of the complexities of the businesses – and to minimize solution and service disruptions for our clients. We are also working with McKinsey, a global leader with an incredible depth of experience, to assist with our integration efforts.
- The combination of PSCU and Co-op brings together teams with similar values and cultures, based on a foundation of the “people helping people” credit union philosophy. With their collective history, PSCU and Co-op understand the credit union space better than any other fintech. Credit union growth and member experience are our shared central mission, unlike for-profit public companies.
- We will be combining two vibrant and diverse employee cultures into one inclusive culture that embodies the same values, mission, vision and purpose, to serve both companies’ current clients and to be positioned to attract new clients. This combination will provide employees with the benefits and resources to grow and excel now and well into the future.
- The Integration Management Office (IMO) is purposefully balancing service and culture as their two key guiding principles. As a credit union-owned cooperative, we are able to integrate in a way that is in the best interests of our credit unions and their members.
- For the near term, both organizations’ product sets will be retained and development will continue on these solutions. The go-forward product strategy will be reviewed as part of the integration process and the future product roadmap is anticipated to be announced during the first half of 2024. The combined company is also committed to the continuity of the Co-op ATM and shared branching networks.
- We do not expect clients to be forced to convert from either the FIS or Fiserv processing platforms as a result of the combination in the foreseeable future. Our organizations think about platforms in the same manner and know that conversions are disruptive to clients. At the same time, we both also share the same view that our vendor relationships are always dependent on our vendors’ ability to serve our clients’ needs. We expect the new organization will operate in a similar manner and will continue to evaluate the performance of our vendor partners and what they deliver in service to our clients.
- From an operational perspective, there will be no forced migrations from current processing platforms for at least five years, unless it becomes commercially impractical to maintain the current platform as a processing vendor.
- There will be no immediate changes to the events that are scheduled and each of the conferences will still be held as planned. Member Forum will be hosted in San Antonio from April 10-12, 2024, and THINK will be held in Nashville from May 7-10, 2024. Each company is expected to have a presence at the other’s previously scheduled events.
- Integration plans are being formulated and more details about the new organization’s structure, priorities and events will be determined and shared in the weeks and months following the close of the combination.
- If you are a current client of either PSCU or Co-op, you should continue to work with your current service or sales representative.
