Gainesville’s Alliance Credit Union of Florida and Self-Help Credit Union, based in Durham, North Carolina, officially merged on June 1.
The Florida Office of Financial Regulation (OFR) placed the Alliance Credit Union of Florida, based in Gainesville, in conservatorship in November 2024 and appointed the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) as the conservator. NCUA selected Self-Help Credit Union as Alliance’s merger partner.
According to a press release, Alliance Credit Union of Florida was founded in 1944 to serve employees of the city of Gainesville and their families and originally operated out of the basement of Gainesville City Hall. The credit union now serves anyone living or working in Alachua, Bradford, Gilchrist, Levy or Union County counties, along with other employee groups and their family members.
Alliance serves more than 5,300 members in its two Gainesville branches on 412 E. University Ave. and 4280 NW 16th Blvd. and holds approximately $59 million in total assets. Operations will continue without disruption both online and at its Gainesville offices.
“We are excited to welcome the 5,000+ members of Alliance to Self-Help,” said Randy Chambers, president of Self-Help Credit Union, in the press release. “We have a long history of serving municipal employees and community residents, including in nearby Jacksonville. We are committed to continuing Alliance’s 81-year history of service, by giving back to members with low fees and strong rates on deposits and loans.”
Self-Help Credit Union will eliminate all overdraft and NSF (bounced check) fees at Alliance.
Self-Help Credit Union was chartered in 1983. With over $1.86 billion in assets, the credit union, headquartered in Durham, serves more than 98,000 members in 38 branches, with eight in Florida, one in Georgia, 24 in North Carolina, four in South Carolina and one in Virginia.