Street Talk returns with new host, Head of Financial Institutions Research and Lead North American Insurance Analyst at S&P Global Market Intelligence, Tim Zawacki.

Seven months into the largest merger of US credit unions on record, First Technology Federal Credit Union President and CEO Shruti Miyashiro is focused on both the short-term intricacies of bringing together two bi-coastal institutions and the longer-term evolution of the business of banking.

The Jan 1st combination of First Tech, a San Jose-based credit union with a branch network focused on California's Silicon Valley and Oregon's Willamette Valley, with Digital FCU, a Marlborough, Mass.-based institution with a significant presence along Boston's Route 128 technology corridor, unites institutions with many similarities in their member compositions but the logistical and cultural complexities of bringing together entities headquartered some 3,100 miles apart.

In this episode, Miyashiro discusses the challenges and opportunities associated with the integration process and the evolution of consumer banking more broadly. And she offers a staunch defense of role played by credit unions in the US banking system.

In this episode:

• Progress First Tech has already made in creating the nation's sixth-largest credit union by asset size and the integration work that remains.
• The role that First Tech believes branches will or will not play in the bank of the future.
• Why Miyashiro believes US credit unions should continue to enjoy a federal corporate income tax exemption.

More S&P Global Market Intelligence content:

• Banking Essentials Newsletter
• Webinar: Transforming Credit Unions: Key M&A and Technology Trends in U.S. and Canadian Markets | S&P Global

For S&P Global subscribers (login required):

• Updated US Banking Industry Projections
• US credit union deal count drops in H1 2026, but merger sizes stay big

Credits:

• Host: Tim Zawacki
• Guest: Shruti Miyashiro
• Produced By: Carl Schmidt & Feranmi Adeoshun
• Published With Assistance From: Sophie Carr

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Statements made by persons who are not S&P Global employees represent their own views and not necessarily those of S&P Global.