Marine Credit Union expands in southeast Wisconsin with Bank Mutual branch acquisitions

With the acquisition of five Bank Mutual branches, Marine Credit Union — one of Wisconsin’s fastest-growing financial institutions — will have a presence in Racine and Kenosha counties for the first time.

La Crosse-based Marine, which has been involved in 13 mergers or branch purchases in the past 17 years, said this week that the deal to obtain Bank Mutual locations in Racine, Kenosha and Sheboygan has received regulatory approval.

The bank branches will convert to Marine branches Aug. 28.

Financial terms of the transaction weren’t disclosed, but Marine said it will add $52.6 million in deposits and $13.2 million in loans to its books, along with about 3,000 new members.

Marine will have 33 offices and more than 60,000 members across Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota after the Bank Mutual deal.

Credit unions are like banks in many ways, but they are financial cooperatives owned by their members instead of by stockholders.

Marine doesn't shy away from having branches in blue-collar areas, said Shawn Hanson, who has been chief executive since 2000.

"We're very mission-focused around service to what we call the underserved," Hanson said. "For us, in the simplest terms, that's people who can't get access to financial services, primarily credit, at traditional financial institutions. So it’s really kind of that old credit union niche mode, the thing credit unions were founded to do, which is to provide people access to a reasonably priced source of credit."

It's a riskier market to serve, but Marine, while making home and auto loans, works with members to help them improve their personal finances, Hanson said. 

Marine, which achieved size that has enabled it to make more acquisitions when La Crosse's Advantage Credit Union merged with Fond du Lac's Marine in 2006, has seen its assets grow 76% since 2012.

Marine's 2016 net income of more than $9.6 million was almost double its net income from 2012.

In the metro Milwaukee area, Marine has branches in Menomonee Falls, Milwaukee, Pewaukee and Wauwatosa.

The Bank Mutual branches to be converted to Marine sites are at: 6310 Green Bay Road in Kenosha, 5133 Douglas Ave. and 3039 S. Green Bay Road in Racine, and 801 N. 8th St. and 730 N. 9th St. in Sheboygan.

Hanson said Marine plans to keep growing, both through acquisitions and production at its current locations.

"This is a tough business to be in if you're not growing," Hanson said.