AUSTIN, Texas - Several local credit unions have signed agreements to share their ATM networks around Central Texas as a way to compete against banks.
The Austin ATM Alliance was formed earlier this year by executives at the University, Austin Telco and IBM Texas Employees federal credit unions, according to a report in the Austin Business Journal. The credit unions say it's the first effort of its kind in Central Texas.
The alliance allows customers of member credit unions to use each other's ATMs without paying fees.
The three founding members of the alliance sent invitation letters in late April to all the credit unions based in Central Texas. Five credit unions took them up on the offer; the alliance now has a network of 168 ATMs from Georgetown to San Marcos.
"We are dwarfed by the large banks, so we have to band together in order to gain efficiencies that make us more competitive," said Tommy Seargeant, president and chief executive of the Greater Texas Federal Credit Union, a new alliance member.
Seargeant says his credit union has been acquiring other credit unions in the past few years to expand its reach across the state. By joining this network, he says, Greater Texas Federal saves on the cost of building an ATM network and can serve more customers with the same amount of employees.
Tony Budet, president and chief executive of the Austin-based University Federal Credit Union, said the ATM network is just the beginning when it comes to cooperation among credit unions.
"This alliance may give us an avenue to partner on a wide variety of issues," Budet said. "ATMs are just the first step. We could look at leveraging the network for information technology services and HR. We've even talked about jointly building facilities."
