Innovation Federal Credit Union is exploring a potential partnership with another credit union, which if agreed upon, will be the first interprovincial merger of its kind.

The announcement, made in January, comes after discussions between the two organizations that identified the same disruptors are impacting both credit unions.

CEO of Innovation Federal Credit Union, Daniel Johnson, explained that ABCU Credit Union of Alberta started seeking a partner last year, ultimately choosing the Saskatchewan-based company.

"At this point in our process, we don't see any downside at all," he said. "We are both likeminded credit unions and we both have similar technology, same banking system, and same partners with respect to providing payment access for our members."

If the two move forward with a merger, current members won't notice a difference other than more physical locations popping up in the neighbouring province. Johnson said the name will remain as Innovation Federal Credit Union if the partnership becomes official--which they hope to have a final decision on within the next couple of months. 

He added that some appealing factors include growing their membership and being able to align with current member expectations for extensive banking channels such as physical and online/mobile locations. 

"Our plan still is to focus on those communities that have built this credit union," said Johnson. "We do plan to leverage our technology and expand digitally. While we didn't have it in our five-year plan, we know when credit unions reach out to us, we're open to conversations around potential partners and mergers. We anticipate others going forward."