Worcester-based Webster First Federal Credit Union will merge with Saugus Federal Credit Union, Webster First CEO Michael Lussier said today.

The two credit unions, both operating with community membership bases, have been in talks to merge since February and will complete their union this month.

The $60.5 million-asset Saugus had been seeking merger partners in the area, Lussier told Banker & Tradesman, and the two partners have determined that their slate of products and services made them a good fit for each other.

Saugus customers will be able to continue using similar products, but will be able to chose from a wider array of new options as well. The two institutions’ respective membership areas are also contiguous: Saugus credit union members must live in Suffolk, Essex or Middlesex counties, while Webster First draws its members from Worcester County.

As the smaller institution, two-branch Saugus will keep its name and operate as a division of the11-branch, $509.2 million Webster First. Lussier said the union with Saugus was another step in its growth strategy, which up until this point had been a matter of expanding its locations – including a newly opened operations center in Worcester. Lussier said his credit union intends to keep growing, either by merger or organic growth.

"If the opportunity [for another merger] arises, we’re available. And if it doesn’t, we grow on our own," he said.

As federal credit unions, the institutions got merger approval through the National Credit Union Administration, the industry’s regulator.