Navigant absorbs Dexter

NAVIGANT CREDIT UNION PRESIDENT AND CEO Gary A. Furtado retains the reins of the Smithfield-based institution after it completes its merger with Dexter Credit Union. / PBN FILE PHOTO/RUPERT WHITELEY
NAVIGANT CREDIT UNION PRESIDENT AND CEO Gary A. Furtado retains the reins of the Smithfield-based institution after it completes its merger with Dexter Credit Union. / PBN FILE PHOTO/RUPERT WHITELEY

(Updated 12:01 p.m.)
SMITHFIELD – Navigant Credit Union is growing this spring, as the credit union on Monday announced it would absorb Dexter Credit Union along with its balance sheet, two branches and its more than 16,000 members.

The merger, subject to the approval of the National Credit Union Administration and the R.I. Department of Business Regulation, is slated for April 10. Dexter, of Central Falls, will drop its name and assume the Navigant brand. Navigant will take over all of Dexter’s assets and liabilities, including about $100 million in total assets, $75 million in loans and about $90 million in deposits between its two branches in Central Falls and Scituate.

Gary A. Furtado will continue in his role as president and CEO and Stephen J. Angell, Dexter’s current president and CEO, will stay on until April 10 before leaving the company.

“I think it’s a win for everybody. It really is,” Angell told Providence Business News. “It’s a win for the Rhode Island banking community. Navigant is a wonderful organization and in my mind’s eye my customers come first and the customers benefit from this merger.”

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Once the merger is complete, Dexter customers will be able to use Navigant products and services, which are more advanced than what’s available at Dexter, Angell said. Indeed, the increasingly high costs of regulatory compliance and advanced technology were the main reasons behind the merger, Angell added.

“Like many small financial institutions in this day and age, compliance and other regulatory burdens are tough to achieve at an appropriate economy of scale,” he said.

Furtado agrees.

“It’s all expenses, and the scale just isn’t there,” he said. “We’ve got the scale, we’ve got the infrastructure to handle everything.”

Furtado and Angell declined to comment about whether to expect layoffs, however Angell said it was his understanding Dexter employees would be offered employment opportunities. Navigant, with $1.5 billion in assets, will grow its Rhode Island footprint through the merger, which Furtado says is exciting for the credit union and its members.

“This merger brings together two financial organizations that both trace their roots to supporting the residents and businesses of Central Falls. We’ll now bring Navigant’s unique brand of member service and technology advancements to Dexter’s Central Falls and Scituate members,” he said. “We’re excited to become part of the Scituate community and demonstrate an ever deeper commitment to the city of Central Falls.”

According to the NCUA, Dexter’s membership in December was 16,115.

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