HarborOne Members Approve Landmark Switch To Bank

CU Journal - March 18, 2013 - By: Ed Roberts

BROCKTON, Mass. – Members of HarborOne CU have approved the $1.9 billion credit union’s conversion to bank, the biggest credit union charter switch ever.

The credit union announced this morning that 62% of the 22,433 members who voted during the 30-day ballot for the conversion to state chartered mutual savings bank approved the switch to bank. The conversion required approval from a simple majority of voting members.

Those who voted amounted to 17% of the credit union’s 132,877 eligible voters.

HarborOne used Colbent Corp. of Massachusetts to collect and tally the ballots, which were cast by mail, at the credit union’s 14 branches or at the March 11 shareholders meeting.

The credit union, the second biggest in Massachusetts, must now have the vote certified by NCUA, which has 30 days to do so, and by the Massachusetts Department of Banking. 

HarborOne was chartered in 1917 to serve employees of the local shoe manufacturing industry and now serves four surrounding counties of Bristol, Norfolk, Plymouth and Barnstable.

If completed, HarborOne will be the biggest credit union ever to switch to a bank, far exceeding Minnesota's Think FCU, a former IBM employees credit union, and Community CU of Texas, both of which had $1.3 billion in assets when they converted

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