By ALLISSA KLINE
akline@bizjournals.com | 716-541-1612

One of the oldest credit unions in Western New York is planning to open its membership to anyone who lives, works or worships in Erie County.

Buffalo Service Credit Union, a 78-year-old institution primarily serving federal employees in nine counties, is seeking permission from the New York State Banking Department to convert from an employer-based credit union to a community charter serving all of the county. The switch may be approved within 30 days, the credit union said.

The timing is unintentionally spot-on for the credit union, given the disruption about to unfold with the sale of the local branches of HSBC Bank USA N.A. to First Niagara Financial Group Inc. That may create lots of chances to expand the credit union's membership, perhaps to as many as 10,000 members, said CEO and treasurer Bill Bund.

"We may be able to take advantage (of the disruption) if current customers of those banks want to change (where they bank)," he said. "We'll be an option for them now. So the timing might be good for us."

Buffalo Service Credit Union was founded in 1933 at the local U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to serve federal employees and their families. During the 1980s, it added two employee groups to its field of membership: the Federal Reserve Bank of Buffalo and Wackenhut Security Co. It had approximately 5,600 members and $40.7 million in assets as of July 31, Bund said.

It has operated a full-service branch at the Niagara Center, 130 S. Elmwood Ave., since 2005 when it moved out of the former Dulski Building, now known as the Avant. It has a branch at Buffalo's Veterans Administration Hospital on Bailey Avenue and another at AppleTree Business Park on Union Road in Cheektowaga.

Bund and his team began discussing the potential switch in April. Part of the reason it wants to open membership to all of Erie County stems from the growing number of local credit unions that already service members within defined communities, he said.

"The best offense is a good defense," he said. "We don't want other credit unions to lure customers away."

Buffalo Service Credit Union, the 20th-largest credit union in Western New York based on assets, employs 14 full-time workers.

In addition to its branch businesses, it provides once-a-week banking services to the local U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.