The trend toward 'locally owned' is set to hit a new high for banking in regional Queensland.

North Queensland’s two largest credit unions have announced their plan to join forces.

Queensland Country Credit Union and ECU Australia intend to merge securing a stronger future for their growing number of customer owners across regional Queensland.

The proposed merger will create a major local banking force with assets exceeding $1.5 billion and a customer base of over 70,000 Queenslanders.

The merged entity will operate as Queensland Country Credit Union, with Head Office in Townsville.

The Board of the merged entity will initially comprise six Directors from Queensland Country and three Directors from ECU. Current Queensland Country Chair, Bruno Cullen, will remain as Chair.

The proposal will require regulatory approval before being put to ECU Members for a vote in late 2016.

In the meantime for Members and staff, it will be “business as usual” and the Credit Unions will run as normal while integration planning takes place.

If successful, the formal merger of the two organisations is expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2017.

The move is set to create a genuine alternative to the big banks in the North and is expected to see a shift toward people choosing to bank with a local business.

Queensland Country CEO Aileen Cull and ECU CEO Colin Daly said their shared values set and identical customer profiles made for an ideal fit.

“We have both been taking care of hard working regional Queensland families for over 40 years, always evolving our service, products and business models with the best interests of these people at heart.

“Joining forces means those who have trusted us to take care of their financial wellbeing will now have an even better return on that investment and those who have worried we were not big enough will now reconsider,” Ms Cull said.

Established in the early 70s both organisations evolved out of a demand for easier, fairer banking for regional Queensland workers.

Mr Daly said the timing for a merger could not be better.

“At the end of the day this is about creating an organisation with the scale, size and focus on people required to offer a resilient, strong and genuine alternative in banking.

“We expect it will not only deliver a better outcome for our customer owners but will also attract more people who have been wanting to deal with a locally owned alternative to the profit driven model of the big banks,” he said.

The complementary footprint of both businesses serves as enormous advantage which both CEOs say will impress both their customers and staff.

“Essentially we are expanding our touch points which means customers from both businesses will experience greater convenience across the region and our staff can be confident that the move provides a bright future,” he said.

Queensland Country who have recently invested in a new core banking system to support greater agility and capacity for innovation said the time was right to form such an alliance.

 “We have a strategic focus on advancement and growth but are extremely protective of our customer base. We were looking for a merger partner our customers would approve of but it also needed to be at the right time to provide the most benefit for our Members,” Ms Cull explained.

“We believe all those things have aligned perfectly in this case.”

Mr Daly agreed. “We are both committed to offering our Members values based, easy, fair, locally owned banking products and services that they can trust will always have their best interest at heart.

“For those who bank with us this merger will ultimately deliver a better experience through an expanded branch network, improved product offering, advances in digital capabilities and operational efficiencies.

“It is a move that will strengthen the customer owned model in Queensland.”