Milwaukee-based Landmark Credit Union will buy American National Bank-Fox Cities, based in nearby Appleton, Wisconsin, marking the fifth deal this year between a credit union and a bank.
The transaction, announced Tuesday, will grow Landmark’s footprint in northeastern Wisconsin, adding $419 million in assets and two branches to the credit union’s $7 billion-asset, 35-location network.
The lenders did not detail the value of the transaction but estimated that it would close in the second half of 2026.
“American National Bank-Fox Cities is a business-focused institution that aligns exceptionally with our commercial strategy, while also offering a full-suite of consumer products and services,” Landmark CEO Timothy Mackay said in a prepared statement. “Northeast Wisconsin is a dynamic and desirable region for us. We are excited to welcome the American National Bank Fox-Cities team and their clients as we continue to invest in and expand our presence in this market.”
The deal comes one day after the Independent Community Bankers of America, launched a national campaign in opposition to such deals, meant to “pull back the curtain” on credit unions.
Bank trade groups have long opposed bank acquisitions by credit unions because those institutions are tax-exempt, giving them more buying power than banks.
If large credit unions were taxed at the same rate as community banks, they would have contributed $2.6 billion in taxes last year, the ICBA said. Community banks paid more than $15 billion in taxes last year, according to the trade group.
ICBA CEO Rebeca Romero Rainey said credit union-bank deals ultimately hurt borrowers, too.
“[Credit unions say] that they're helping communities when they buy a community bank, when in fact, the data tells us the small-business lending fell 80% following a credit union acquisition,” Romero Rainey said Saturday at the organization’s ICBA Live conference in San Diego. “For mortgage lending rates, their denial rates actually increased 61%, and the median mortgage loan amount actually decreased $20,000. Does that sound like helping communities?”
Madlynn Schreibvogel, a spokesperson for credit union trade group Go West Association, called the ICBA’s campaign “a convenient distraction [that takes] focus away from the real issues facing their industry.”
“Unfortunately, the American Bankers Association has done a remarkable job convincing the smaller institutions’ ICBA that credit unions are the problem, while the largest Wall Street banks continue to grow and capture the market share of community banks,” Schreibvogel said. “Instead of acting as a mouthpiece for large banking interests, ICBA should focus on helping community banks address the real threat to their future: consolidation driven by the largest national banks that continue buying up smaller institutions.”
Scott Simpson, CEO of trade group America’s Credit Unions, called the ICBA’s campaign “haphazard misinformation.”
“Credit unions and community banks both play important roles in the financial ecosystem,” he said. “America’s Credit Unions will continue advocating for policies that strengthen community-based financial institutions and the consumers they serve.”
Credit union-bank deals were announced at a slower pace in 2025 than in its record-setting predecessor. Sixteen credit union-bank deals were announced last year, as opposed to 22 the previous year.
So far in 2026, Livonia, Michigan-based Zeal Credit Union agreed to acquire Upper Peninsula-based Miners State Bank in January. Three deals were announced in a two-week span last month, CU Today reported.
For his part, Paul Northway, American National Bank-Fox Cities’ president and CEO, said he was confident the partnership would be “transformational.”
