Share cropping: credit unions show up for the first time on our ranking of the state's largest financial institutions -- in a big way.

• Author: Maley, Frank
• Position: Banking

During its first 26 years, Reynolds Carolina Federal Credit Union turned away all would be members except R.J. Reynolds Tobacco workers and their families. Even when it first reached outside of Reynolds in 1993, it wasn't bold. It admitted employees of Nabisco, which the tobacco company's parent, R.J. Reynolds Industries, had bought eight years earlier.

Times have changed. Tar Heel credit unions, which are nonprofit financial institutions owned by their members, are shrinking in number but growing in assets and revenue, encouraged by a 1998 congressional act that settled, in favor of credit unions, a longstanding dispute with banks about how aggressively credit unions can court new members.

Concerned that we had overlooked a big part of the Tar Heel financial community in our annual ranking of banks and thrifts, BUSINESS NORTH CAROLINA this year added credit unions with at least $1 million in revenue to the list. Most of the list's 70 credit unions wound up near the bottom. But two were in the top 10. Raleigh-based State Employees Credit Union, is No. 5 (see Page 36), and Raleigh-based Coastal Federal is No. 9.

The number of credit unions has decreased 12% statewide, to 162, since 1998. Part of the blame goes to shuttered factories. Many credit unions were sponsored, as Reynolds was, by manufacturers with lots of workers. And that gave the credit unions large clusters of members. But as old-line manufacturers closed plants and the state's economy shifted toward smaller, service oriented companies, many of those credit unions have merged. That has given the larger surviving credit unions the wherewithal to invest in the technology and people needed to offer ATMs, credit cards, PC banking and other conveniences that members demand, says Larry Johnson, president of the North Carolina Credit Union League, a lobbying group. "If you can't do that, then the only option is to consolidate."

That's why Carolina Medicredit, the credit union for Winston-Salem-based Novant Health, merged with Reynolds in early 2000. By aggressively marketing itself to other employers, Reynolds expanded its stable of companies whose employees are eligible for membership to more than 300. It changed its name to Allegacy Federal Credit Union in January 2001.

North Carolina credit unions ended 2001 with assets of more than $15 billion, a 35% increase over 1998. Asset growth was especially strong in 2001, nearly 19%. The main reason? The economy. "People are looking for safer places to put their money, particularly the older folks," Johnson says. "Our notion is that in the move from the stock market to financial institutions, credit unions got a pretty good share of that."

BIGGEST MONEY BINS Rank City '02 '01 1 1 Bank of America Charlotte 2 2 Wachovia Charlotte 3 4 BB&T Winston-Salem 4 5 First Citizens BancShares Raleigh 5 -- State Employees Raleigh 6 6 First Charter Charlotte 7 9 First Bancorp Troy 8 8 Fidelity Bancshares Fuquay-Varina 9 -- Coastal Federal Raleigh 10 10 LSB Bancshares (1) Lexington 11 -- Truliant Federal Winston-Salem 12 11 Southern Bancshares Mount Olive 13 7 Bank of Granite Granite Falls 14 -- Allegacy Federal Winston-Salem 15 13 FNB Financial Services (2) Reidsville 16 19 Piedmont Federal S&L Winston-Salem 17 17 The Hometown Bank (3) Asheville 18 12 Peoples Bancorp of N.C. Newton 19 14 FNB (4) Asheboro 20 15 First South Bancorp Washington 21 18 First National Bank Shelby 22 16 High Point Bank High Point 23 21 Macon Bancorp Franklin 24 -- Marine Federal Jacksonville 25 25 Southern Community Financial Winston-Salem 26 23 Asheville Savings Bank Asheville 27 26 Cooperative Bankshares Wilmington 28 36 MountainBank Financial Hendersonville 29 29 Capital Bank Raleigh 30 20 Yadkin Valley Bank and Trust Elkin 31 -- Sharonview Federal Charlotte 32 22 F&M Financial (5) Granite Quarry 33 24 1st State Bancorp (6) Burlington 34 44 United Community Bancorp (7) Hickory 35 -- N.C. Government Employees Raleigh Federal 36 28 Four Oaks Fincorp (8) Four Oaks 37 27 ECB Bancorp (9) Engelhard 38 30 Uwharrie Capital (10) Albemarle 39 34 Citizens South Bank (11) Gastonia 40 -- Carolinas Telco Federal Charlotte 41 31 Community Bank Pilot Mountain 42 40 Security Savings Bank Southport 43 38 Bank of North Carolina Thomasville 44 39 Randolph Bank & Trust Asheboro 45 37 Heritage Bancshares Lucama 46 49 Piedmont Bank (12) Statesville 47 -- Piedmont Aviation Winston-Salem 48 47 South Street Financial (13) Albemarle 49 52 American Community Bancshares Monroe 50 41 KS Bancorp Kenly 51 33 M&F Bancorp (14) Durham 52 45 First Federal Savings Bank (15) Dunn 53 46 AF Bank (16) West Jefferson 54 -- Fort Bragg Federal Fort Bragg 55 54 High Street (17) Asheville 56 -- Members Winston-Salem 57 42 Lumbee Guaranty Bank Pembroke 58 -- First Flight Federal Havelock 59 48 Coddle Creek Financial (18) Mooresville 60 53 First Federal Savings Bank Lincolnton 61 57 MidCarolina Bank (19) Burlington 62 72 Paragon Commercial Bank (20) Raleigh 63 58 Blue Ridge Savings Bank (21) Asheville 64 -- Charlotte Metro Charlotte 65 61 Waccamaw Bank (22) Whiteville 66 67 High Country Bank Boone 67 62 Carolina Bank (23) Greensboro 68 50 Northwestern National Bank (24) Wilkesboro 69 64 Rowan Savings Bank (25) China Grove 70 59 Industrial Federal Savings Bank Lexington 71 60 Roxboro Savings Bank Roxboro 72 56 First Commerce Bank (26) Charlotte 73 73 First Trust Bank Charlotte 74 55 Bank of Currituck Moyock 75 82 Crescent State Bank (27) Cary 76 -- Wake Forest Federal S&L (28) Wake Forest 77 71 Surrey Bank & Trust Mount Airy 78 83 Bank of Wilmington Wilmington 79 63 Bank of Asheville (29) Asheville 80 81 Bank of the Carolinas Mocksville 81 -- Premier Federal Greensboro 82 -- Summit Greensboro 83 91 North State Bank (30) Raleigh 84 -- Self-Help Durham 85 75 Scottish Bank Charlotte 86 70 Taylorsville Savings Bank Taylorsville 87 88 Alamance National Bank Graham 88 84 Little Bank Kinston 89 80 Home Savings Bank Eden 90 79 Belmont Federal S&L Belmont 91 -- Champion & Associates Canton 92 90 New Century Bank Dunn 93 78 Roanoke Rapids Savings Bank Roanoke Rapids 94 -- Seymour Johnson Federal Goldsboro 95 -- Glaxo Wellcome Employees RTP 96 68 Morganton Federal S&L Morganton 97 Progressive State Bank Lumberton 98 77 Mutual Community Savings Bank Durham 99 -- Sara Lee Winston-Salem 100 85 Cherryville Federal S&L Cherryville 101 66 Avery County Bank Newland 102 86 Independence Bank Kernersville 103 -- Duke University Federal Durham 104 -- Mountain Federal Waynesville 105 94 Trinity Bank Monroe 106 -- Telco & Affiliates Asheville 107 -- RTP Federal RTP 108 -- Choice Federal Greensboro 109 -- Telco Tarboro 110 -- Weyco Plymouth 111 -- Riegelwood Federal...