The recently completed merger of Riegelwood Federal Credit Union with Charleston, South Carolina-based REV Federal Credit Union has significantly expanded the products and services available to Riegelwood members, according to a REV spokesman.
 
“Members now have access to business services, like business credit cards and business checking,” said Dustin Haynes, REV’s public relations manager. “They also have access to retail mortgage lending for purchases or refinancing, and to retirement planning and investing, with our in-house financial advisers.
 
“We have a much more robust digital presence [than did Riegelwood], and that technology is not tied to a physical location,” he added.
 
Thanks to the merger with Riegelwood Credit Union, with branches in Leland and Columbus County, and Hamlet Credit Union, with a presence in Richmond and Scotland counties, REV now has 15 locations in North and South Carolina. It plans to expand its footprint even further: Haynes said the credit union has its eye on opening a branch in New Hanover County sometime in 2022.
 
While customer traffic in branches has decreased for credit unions as well as for banks, branch locations are still important for credit unions because they are financial cooperatives and thus, said Haynes, “more relationship-driven.”
 
REV is committed to being an active community partner as well as offering a "more robust" suite of products and services, Haynes added.
 
“We are very much community-focused. REV and Riegelwood joined forces to create more opportunities for our members and for more competitive rates, but also for more giving back to the community,” he said. “We want to support the communities where we are through our #UPTHEGOOD initiative."

NOTE: This story has been changed to correct the transaction from an acquisition to a merger, to correct the official names of both REV and Riegelwood to indicate they are federally chartered, and to include the name of REV's community support initiative.