Cornerstone / Heartland Merger

• By combining the shared strengths of two well-capitalized leagues, Cornerstone and HCUA can preserve the unique role of financial cooperatives in the marketplace, and expand its influence as a larger regional league.
• Regional oversight would amplify federal coordination on local threats from ABA, ICBA, and state-specific banking trades.
• Building upon the strengths of existing league service corporations (LSC) means leagues become less dependent on dues revenue, keeping members’ costs down.
• When the LSC is a larger aggregator, credit union buying power is increased.
• Every dollar saved through scale equals a dollar of additional advocacy support.
• Credit unions will enjoy the option of expanded networking with a bigger group of peers or continuing with regional roundtable events.
• Additionally, diverse talent will improve the quality and sustainability of the value delivered.

Following the departure of HCUA’s CEO earlier this year, its board of directors had to decide whether to search for a new CEO or find a partner to help optimize its long-term value proposition.

As credit unions have been adapting to changes with competition and consumer behavior, their numbers have declined. Leagues must evolve as well to ensure they can meet credit unions’ changing needs. Scale is a necessary part of their adaptation.

A key benefit of bringing two strong leagues together is that reductions in key resources – such as personnel – are not necessary to accomplish scale. Because HCUA staff will remain on board, resources can be re-balanced to ensure every credit union receives the same level of – if not actually superior – service. 

Yes, Cornerstone Resources and the Cornerstone Foundation will merge with their HCUA counterparts, providing additional services and fundraising opportunities for Cornerstone members.

Cornerstone has proposed a temporary increase to the Cornerstone League board of directors, from 11 to 17, which is permissible in the bylaws, to provide representation to credit unions in Kansas and Missouri. These new seats will “expire” at the 2026 Annual Meeting, at which time Kansas and Missouri credit union representatives will have the opportunity to run to become Directors in one of the two existing classes: asset-based and location-based.

HCUA is in great shape financially and will bring $15 million in additional capital to the combined organization, which means Cornerstone will be well-equipped to invest in the future. Millions in additional dues dollars will be more than sufficient to ensure current programs continue to run smoothly.

Cornerstone is working collaboratively with HCUA’s leaders to plan a successful transition, which includes thoughtful consideration of staffing needs.​ Retaining the people who know and understand your organization is a top priority.

As a combined organization, Cornerstone will have one Annual Meeting and many local events will remain intact. The two league events teams are developing a plan to provide the combined membership with outstanding educational and networking opportunities close to home and in centralized locations.

Cornerstone offers highly customized services and dedicated resources to small credit unions – including training and networking. In fact, Cornerstone offers a Small Credit Union Forum stand-alone event to ensure sufficient focus is on the unique needs of smaller institutions.

Most products credit unions use now will continue, and members of both leagues will have access to new offerings from day one.​

Cornerstone Resources is well-positioned to continuously develop and deliver new offerings driven by member feedback and industry research. For more information about Cornerstone Resources’ products and services, watch the Solutions section of our website for updates.

With credit unions merging at a rapid clip, the league revenue model is threatened. The only way to maintain the value proposition is through scale (doing more with less), and since new credit unions are not filling in the gaps where others have merged away, leagues must gain scale through consolidation.

National organizations don’t offer state-level advocacy – something that has to be done closer to home. Without strong state-level advocacy in every state, the credit union model is as risk. Coming together provides credit unions with a powerhouse advocacy team. By being more efficient, we have more dollars to spend on what’s important. The same holds true for local engagement and networking. There is a balance.

To the contrary – credit unions in each state will contribute dues, but by gaining efficiencies we’ll be able to do even more with the funds than we can independently. A rising tide lifts all boats.

Cornerstone has been rigorous about expense control, so our dues are lower. We will extend our dues formula to HCUA members. Cornerstone’s dues formula is spelled out in the Bylaws, which means changes (other than the cost-of-living factor), must be approved by members. Cornerstone periodically re-evaluates the fairness of its dues structure and is committed to performing that analysis again by the end of 2023.​