Montgomery, Alabama-based MAX Credit Union has agreed to acquire Birmingham-area First Financial Bank for an undisclosed cash sum, according to a release issued Tuesday.
The deal, set to close in 2027, would expand MAX’s mortgage, wealth management, insurance and business lending services into Alabama’s largest metro area.
The transaction would also bolster MAX’s stable of brick-and-mortar locations by 50%, adding eight branches to the credit union’s 16-site footprint.
“First Financial Bank has spent nearly 90 years earning the trust of the families and businesses in the markets it serves, and that’s exactly the kind of institution we wanted to partner with,” MAX CEO Martin Head said in the release, reported earlier by CUToday. “Our two organizations share a belief that a financial institution should be measured by how well it serves its neighbors, and we look forward to bringing everything MAX has to offer to these communities.”
MAX said it plans to keep all of Bessemer-based First Financial’s locations open “because the relationships those branches have built are what make this bank special.”
“MAX has built an impressive reputation for outstanding service, strong community relationships, and helping its members achieve their financial goals,” B. Kyle Goodwin IV, CEO of First Financial’s parent company, FirstFed Bancorp, said in Tuesday’s release. “We are confident MAX is the right partner to build on our tradition of exceptional service and ensure continued success for our customers, employees and communities.”
The transaction, MAX’s first bank purchase, will add $245 million in assets to the credit union’s $2.3 billion total.
The MAX-First Financial deal marks the ninth bank acquisition by a credit union in 2026 – a gradual slowdown from a record 22 such transactions announced in 2024 and 16 last year.
Bank acquisitions by credit unions have drawn criticism from the Independent Community Bankers of America, which cites “data that these deals harm small businesses and reduce lending capacity in local communities.
“With community banks consistently outperforming credit unions in the very areas experiencing high rates of poverty that credit unions are specifically subsidized to serve, it is past time for policymakers to address the credit union tax and regulatory exemptions that fuel these deals,” the ICBA said in a statement last month.
America’s Credit Unions CEO Scott Simpson, however, has said changes to the tax code “could negatively impact how credit unions help consumers and communities across the country,” adding that credit unions’ tax-exempt status benefits the financial well-being of 146 million credit union members in the U.S.
