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Strategic acquisitions are no longer a peripheral conversation in the credit union industry. They are becoming a core growth lever – used selectively, deliberately, and with far more strategic intent than in prior cycles. 

This shift is especially visible in activity taking place through CUSOs with the acquisition of private companies. What began as a collaborative model to share cost and capability is increasingly being used as a practical way to extend the credit union’s strategic reach: bringing new capabilities, talent, and products closer to the core mission. 

At Capstone Strategic, we see this acceleration driven by what we call the Big 3: talent, technology & innovation, and product breadth. Together, they explain why acquisition activity is rising, and why it makes sense now. 

A Market Creating Permission to Act 

The broader M&A environment matters. According to comments from Mario Gabelli in Barron’s, U.S. deal activity rebounded sharply in 2025, reaching approximately $2.3 trillion in total value, a 49% increase over 2024. Interest rate cuts, modest regulatory relief, and accelerating demand for AI and digital capabilities reignited what Gabelli called “corporate lovemaking” across sectors, including financial services. 

While Gabelli’s language was colorful, the implication is straightforward: organizations are restructuring more quickly and more intentionally. Credit unions – long known for discipline and patience – are now acting when the strategic rationale is clear and the structure supports responsible execution. 

The Big 3 Driving Strategic Acquisitions 

Talent: Compressing Time in a Scarce Market 

Specialized talent has become one of the most persistent constraints facing credit unions. Data engineers, cybersecurity leaders, compliance specialists, developers, product managers: these skills are scarce, expensive, and increasingly difficult to retain. 

Building these capabilities internally is possible, but slow. Recruiting and integrating niche expertise can take months, if not years, during which competitive expectations continue to rise. 

Strategic acquisitions help compress that timeline. Rather than assembling capabilities role by role, through aqua-hires, credit unions gain access to established teams, operating models, and institutional knowledge that already function at scale. In practice, this is less about headcount and more about momentum. When speed increasingly determines relevance, acquiring capability through a CUSO can be the most rational option. 

Technology & Innovation: From Aspiration to Execution 

Most credit unions have well-defined digital ambitions. Execution is where friction emerges. 

Legacy cores, integration risk, and limited internal development capacity can stall even the strongest roadmaps. Multi-year build cycles consume leadership attention and introduce risk. 

Acquisition activity through a CUSO often bridges this gap. These businesses bring proven platforms, tested integrations, and hard-earned experience deploying technology within credit union constraints. The result is a faster path from strategy to execution, without placing a single, concentrated bet on an internal build. 

Just as important, ownership alignment matters. Strategic control allows technology to evolve alongside long-term priorities, rather than being constrained by external vendor roadmaps. 

Product Breadth: Owning Relevance, Not Renting It 

Member expectations continue to expand across lending, payments, compliance services, data insights, wealth, and business solutions. Few credit unions can build and sustain differentiation across all these areas independently. 

Historically, partnerships provided access. Increasingly, acquisitions provide control, additional economics, and optionality. 

Bringing product capabilities closer to the organization allows credit unions to shape the member experience more deliberately, manage distribution with intent, and retain long-term value creation within the ecosystem, rather than exporting it to third-party providers. Property & casualty insurance, wealth management and title insurance are highly complementary to a credit unions core lending business and therefore extremely active areas right now.  

The distinction is subtle but powerful: owning growth versus renting it. 

A Structural Shift, Not a Cyclical One 

The rise in acquisition activity tied to CUSOs is not about chasing deal volume or capitalizing on a hot M&A market. It reflects a deeper shift in how credit unions think about growth, relevance, and resilience. 

The most effective leaders aren’t asking, “What can we buy?” They’re asking, “What capabilities must we have five years from now, and how quickly do we need to get there?” 

Increasingly, strategic acquisitions are part of that answer. 

Discipline Still Wins 

None of these advantages diminish the need for rigor. Successful acquisitions require strategic alignment, clear criteria for evaluations, thoughtful integration, and realistic expectations. Ownership alone does not create value. 

But when aligned to strategy, acquisitions executed within the CUSO ecosystem offer something increasingly rare in financial services: the ability to grow faster and smarter, without compromising mission. 

The Bottom Line 

Strategic acquisitions through the very flexible CUSO vehicle are rising because conditions demand it. Talent scarcity, accelerating technology cycles, and expanding member expectations are forcing leaders to rethink how growth happens. 

CUSOs sit at the center of that rethink… not as the story themselves, but as a critical enabler of strategic capability-building. 

Growth today is no longer about doing more. It’s about doing the right things, with the right capabilities, at the right time. And for many credit unions, that path increasingly includes well-considered acquisitions supported by the CUSO model.

To learn more or connect with Capstone Strategic, visit their website.

About the Author: 

John Dearing
Partner
Capstone Strategic

John Dearing, CFA, has been a driving force behind Capstone Strategic since 1996, helping organizations pursue disciplined, proactive external growth. John leads Capstone’s market-leading CUSO practice, buy-side team, and operations, advising leadership and Boards on acquisitions, investments, and strategic partnerships. For nearly two decades, he has worked extensively with credit union and CUSO leaders on acquisition growth strategy, with a focus on using the CUSO model to expand capabilities and strengthen competitive positioning.

His experience includes facilitating acquisitions and strategic growth initiatives for organizations such as Velera, PureIT CUSO, Achieva Credit Union, Nutmeg State Financial, RenoFi, Great Lakes Credit Union, South Carolina Financial Solutions, OceanAir Federal Credit Union, Janusea, and One Washington Financial.

A frequent speaker and educator, John has taught thousands of executives on proactive external growth, acquisitions, and business valuation, and regularly presents at national and regional industry events.

John holds an MBA from Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business and a BS in Business Administration from Bucknell University. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), a member of the Washington Society of Investment Analysts, and the founder of an investment partnership.