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Homebuyers on Florida’s Gulf Coast will soon have another option when purchasing or refinancing a home, now that a Michigan-based credit union has completed a merger with Tampa-based First Citrus Bancorporation Inc.
With the closing of the deal, the credit union’s full product and service offerings will be available at all six former First Citrus Bank locations by mid-2023, following a full systems integration, Dearborn, Michigan-based DFCU Financial said Tuesday.
Ryan Goldberg
“We are enthusiastic about this partnership and are committed to providing the exceptional level of service and support that our Florida and Michigan members have come to expect from both entities,” said DFCU President and CEO Ryan Goldberg in a statement. “Together, we will offer our Florida members an enhanced banking experience with expanded product offerings, like mortgages, consumer loans, and investment services.”
The deal allows DFCU Financial to serve people who live, work, worship or attend school in and around Tampa, in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, Polk, Manatee and Sarasota counties.
When announced in May, backers said the merger would create a single company with 33 branch locations in Michigan and Florida serving more than 240,000 members and managing $7.1 billion in assets and nearly $800 million in capital.
The entire management team of First Citrus Bank was expected to join DFCU, with former First Citrus Bank President and CEO John Barrett directing commercial banking in Florida and Michigan as DFCU’s Florida market president and chief commercial services officer.
John Barrett
“Our combined full suite of products and services parlays well into helping Michigan and Florida families become more financially secure and businesses economically successful,” Barrett said in a statement Tuesday.
Founded in 1950 and known as Dearborn Federal Credit Union until 2003, DFCU Financial had previously expanded in a 2009 merger with CapCom Credit Union and a 2010 merger with MidWest Financial, expanding its service area to include Grand Rapids, Lansing and Ann Arbor.
Like other mortgage lenders, credit unions have invested in technology to stay abreast of industry leaders, such as Rocket Mortgage and United Wholesale Mortgage.
Mortgage technology provider Black Knight last year signed nine credit unions serving upwards of 1.6 million members to use its Empower loan origination system
A competing mortgage technology provider Maxwell also markets to small to midsize lenders, employing machine learning to simplify mortgage document review.
Rocket Mortgage makes its technology available to any lender with licensed mortgage loan officers as an end-to-end “mortgage-as-a-service” through Salesforce Financial Services Cloud.
Banks and credit unions can also integrate Rocket Mortgage’s digital mortgage application inside an online banking platform developed by Q2 Holdings Inc.
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