Meritrust Credit Union expands Boulder presence

BOULDER — Meritrust Credit Union, which merged with Premier Members Credit Union last year, has opened a new Boulder branch with another opening coming soon. 

The recently opened branch is at 2525 Arapahoe Ave. The second new branch will open next Monday at 5360 Arapahoe Ave. and “will serve as a temporary location until developers complete their work for a permanent branch nearby,” Meritrust said in a news release. 

“These new branches are the perfect way to celebrate our roots and expand our service here, where we were first chartered,” Meritrust chief banking officer Joley Riley said in the release. “It’s also evidence of our commitment to improving the lives of our members and the communities we serve here in Boulder.”

PMCU traces its Boulder Valley roots as far back as 1959 when Boulder Valley Schools Credit Union was organized and chartered when 17 members deposited $5 each. The money was kept in a box at Casey Junior High School. Seven years later, 25 workers at IBM Corp. united to create a financial service and founded the IBM Boulder Federal Credit Union, later to become the IBM Rocky Mountain Employees Federal Credit Union.

In 1976, Boulder Valley Schools Credit Union expanded to welcome employer groups, beginning with the Estes Park School District, and amassed 2,500 members and $2.5 million in assets.

In 2000, an influx of new companies joined the IBM Rocky Mountain Credit Union, which became Premier Members Federal Credit Union. It absorbed Farmer’s Union Federal Credit Union in 2010.

Boulder Valley Schools Credit Union became the first fully eco-conscious bank or credit union in Colorado in 2007, committing itself to setting an example for other financial institutions to go green. It became the primary credit union for Ball Corp. and its more than 3,000 employees in 2012.

Boulder Valley Schools Credit Union and Premier Members Federal Credit Union joined forces in a “merger of equals” in 2015.

Meritrust was born 90 years ago, when seven officials at Stearman Aircraft Co. in Wichita, Kansas organized and chartered a credit union for its employees. Its membership grew to include employees of Boeing, their suppliers and, later, Spirit Aerosystems.

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