Credit union plans to close downtown Berkeley location

1st United Credit Union plans to close its downtown Berkeley branch this summer, citing declining member transactions, which it attributed to unspecified safety concerns and street design changes. The city in 2021 redesigned a mile-long stretch of Milva Street to protect cyclists from drivers. Credit: Iris Kwok

1st United Credit Union plans to permanently close its downtown Berkeley branch this summer. 

The credit union cited declining member transactions, which it attributed, in part, to unspecified safety concerns, as the reason for the closure. It has not shared a final date of operation for the branch at 2175 Milvia St.

The Pleasanton-headquartered credit union has nine branches scattered across the East Bay and plans to reopen its Oakland branch at 6300 College Ave. — currently slated to close on April 5 for a remodel — once the Berkeley branch closes, according to an email sent to members. 

The credit union wrote in its email that it believes declining transactions were caused by “increasing safety and security concerns” in the area and “street design changes, limited visibility, and decreased parking,” which have “presented ongoing challenges to branch access.” 

The credit union did not respond to Berkeleyside’s questions asking it to elaborate on these concerns.

The city in 2021 redesigned a mile-long stretch of Milvia Street to protect bikers from car traffic by adding concrete barriers. The project removed 66 of the 135 parking spaces on Milvia Street, including spots in front of the credit union. 

The branch is located directly across the street from the Martin Luther King, Jr. Civic Center building. Credit: Iris Kwok

The branch is located one block away from the Downtown Berkeley BART station and less than a block from the city’s 720-space Center Street garage. It is across the street from the Martin Luther King, Jr. Civic Center building and Civic Center Park. A worker at the branch who did not give his name said the location used to offer parking validation for customers at a downtown parking garage until last month, when the vendor changed.

Overall membership at the credit union has dropped slightly since 2021, when it had 62,900 total members, according to its latest annual reports. As of 2024, the bank had 60,000 members. Total assets have also trended downward since 2021, when the credit union had $1.29 billion in total assets. As of 2024, it had $1.21 billion. 

Since March 2020, more than 4,000 bank branches have closed nationwide, according to a 2022 study by the National Community Reinvestment Coalition. Wells Fargo permanently closed its West Berkeley branch at 1095 University Ave. in January 2022, citing the popularity of online banking, which accelerated during the pandemic.

Credit unions, however, seem to have been on the rise, at least according to an analysis by a trade publication that found that the number of credit union branches had as of December 2024 surpassed pre-pandemic levels.

South Berkeley resident LaShawn Winston, who has relied on the downtown Berkeley branch for about two years, said she plans to switch to mobile banking if the location closes, though she prefers to make deposits in-person. 

Winston, a FedEx employee, said she hadn’t previously heard about the closure — she banks with Navy Federal Credit Union, which does not have a physical location in the Bay Area but partners with 1st United to provide in-person banking services. 

“I don’t come that often, but when I do it’s still convenient,” she said. “Now, I don’t know.” 

Jae Noir, a graphic artist who lives within walking distance from the downtown Berkeley branch, said he had been using the branch for about four years. Like Winston, his accounts are with the Navy Federal Credit Union — he prefers their overdraft policy. 

“[The closure is] really going to impact me because I don’t drive,” Noir said. “That’s unfortunate, because I live right down the street, so this [was] very convenient.” 

Noir said that he was initially perplexed when the city replaced street parking with protected bike lanes, but came to understand the decision once he started riding a bike around town instead of driving a car. 

“Now I kind of get it,” he said. “This is safer for us.”