Raleigh-based Coastal Federal Credit Union is closing its three branches in the Charlotte area plus a branch in Garner.
The four branches are scheduled to shut their doors for good Feb. 26. That will leave Coastal Federal with 15 branches, all of them in the Triangle, said spokesman Joe Mecca.
Coastal Federal decided to pull out of the Charlotte area because it has a relatively small membership base there -- 12,000-plus out of a total of 195,000 members -- and the competition is intense, said Mecca.
Members in Charlotte can continue to use 11 branches in the area operated by other credit unions -- part of a "shared branching system" among credit unions -- as well as doing their banking online or by phone, Mecca said.
Despite the planned shutdown of a Garner branch on N.C. 42 West, Mecca said the credit union still expects to increase its branch network in the Triangle by up to five branches by the end of next year.
"We're focusing on expanding in the Triangle," Mecca said. "We know we can grow here. We have had our best performance here."
Coastal Federal was expanding rapidly a few year ago, but early last year it shifted into reverse and closed four lower-traffic branches -- in Clayton, Sanford, Southern Pines and Durham.
Mecca said that members who use the soon-to-be-closed Garner branch can easily be served by a branch in nearby White Oak.
Coastal Federal added a new branch in the Triangle last year, a mini-branch on PC maker Lenovo's campus in Morrisville, and site preparation work already has begun for a new branch on Creedmoor Road in Raleigh. The latter, however, will replace an existing branch in the Lynnwood shopping center on Creedmoor.
The credit union also has been expanding its operating hours at its branches as it rolls out its Express Teller technology, which enables branches to serve members with fewer tellers. The technology enables tellers working at the company's headquarters on Saint Albans Drive in Raleigh to serve members at multiple branches in different locations, thanks to video links and a machine that scans checks and dispenses coins, cash and receipts.
Twelve of the credit union's branches have Express Teller units.
