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ThisIsSabby t1_ivt9mfv wrote

Reply to comment by vttale in By a narrow margin, VSECU members approve a merger by numberafterz

The vote was 51% to 49% so there’s a very healthy amount of skepticism about it. I voted against because a lot of the appeal of an institution like VSECU was that it’s not a big bank. The merger also diminishes competition between institutions, which in a small market like Vermont probably harms consumers in the long run. Also, and not for nothing, it’s unclear (at least to me) how this benefits ordinary members.

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vttale t1_ivtakk3 wrote

Yeah, all totally fair points. I'm probably close to 51/49 just on my own internal feelings and would have been pretty happy just to continue with the way things were. I've been a member since the 90s precisely because of the not-a-big-bank thing, but it's also hard to ignore that size does matter positively in other areas. I just couldn't come up with a solid prediction of how it would likely be more bad than good, and trusted our board.

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Loudergood t1_ivypgis wrote

I voted against it because all the arguments for it that I saw were "bigger stronger, new services we can't offer now" But the details as to what that actually means we're sadly lacking.

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