Citadel Federal Credit Union opening Philly site after discrimination settlement

Chester County-based Citadel Federal Credit Union has picked West Philly’s Overbrook Park neighborhood for its first-ever city branch, making good on its promise to grow beyond the suburbs.

“We’re excited: Some main-line financial institutions have reset away from urban areas. But [Citadel] said this is a neighborhood worth investing in,” said City Councilmember Curtis Jones Jr. in an interview.

The bank will open at 7557-61 Haverford Ave.

Jones, whose district includes Overbrook Park, met with Citadel leaders to review possible branch locations after the bank agreed in 2024 to expand its 24-branch suburban office network into Philadelphia and to subsidize mortgage loans in the city’s poorer neighborhoods, to settle a discrimination complaint from the U.S. Department of Justice.

Citadel, founded in 1937 by steelworkers at the former Lukens Steel in Coatesville (now operated by Cleveland-Cliffs), opened offices across Chester County in the 1980s and 1990s. The credit union added branches in Montgomery, Delaware, and Bucks Counties starting in 2006 after regulators agreed to expand its charter so it could enroll local residents regardless of their employers.

But in a complaint filed last October, the Justice Department argued that the credit union was “redlining” by failing to follow through with its 2006 promise to add branches in Philadelphia. As a result, Citadel agreed to open three city branches and invest at least $6 million to increase access to mortgage, home improvement, and home refinance loans for residents of majority-Black and Hispanic communities in Philadelphia.

The Overbrook Park location is the first branch on the list.

“We’re not done,” said Bill Brown, Citadel’s chief executive since last fall.

Brown said the bank’s analysts and consultants are looking at sites in Northeast and Northwest Philadelphia for other branches in neighborhoods where the majority of residents are people of color and where there are business corridors and homeowners who “we feel are underserved” and “have the opportunity to grow.”

Besides banking services, Brown said the branch will provide meeting space for neighborhood businesses and the community. While scouting branch sites, his team has been reaching out to community groups such as Esperanza, the Hunting Park anti-poverty group, as well as officials such as Jones.

“In Philadelphia, there is such a close overlap between city government, the civic community, not-for-profits, and businesses, that we wanted to make sure the elected officials were aware of our plans,” Brown said.

He said Citadel already serves customers in Philadelphia, as it did before the Justice Department agreement. The credit union, which is larger than most area community banks with $6 billion in loans and other assets, plans to step up participation in city-supporting small-business development programs, including neighborhood-corridor retail support efforts.

M&T, Fulton, TD, and other banks have made a point of expanding or adding new branches in Philadelphia neighborhoods despite the general trend toward operating fewer branches.

Overall, banks have closed about 20% of their U.S. branches since 2007, as more customers bank online or via smartphones. Credit unions, which in some areas have gained market share as community banks vanish, have also cut back on new offices.

Overbrook Park is already home to a branch of Philadelphia’s Police and Fire Federal Credit Union, the city’s largest. Wells Fargo, TD, and Santander have ATMs nearby. Citizens has two branches in central West Philly. Other banks have branches in more affluent nearby neighborhoods, such as University City and Bala Cynwyd.

Jones said Citadel had considered other sites, including a location on Scotts Lane in East Falls, also part of his district.

“We got excited” when Citadel picked Haverford Avenue. “An indication of a community’s viability is if full-service financial institutions choose to locate here,” he said.

“Their criteria is not based just on some algorithm but their understanding of what community needs are. They look at average household size and income. It didn’t hurt that they were right near City Ave.,” a busy shopping and travel corridor that divides Philadelphia from wealthy Lower Merion township.

The credit union’s site covers three storefronts. At nearly 3,000 square feet, it is larger than most other Citadel branches, Brown said.

“This neighborhood has come full circle,” with a mix of longtime African American homeowners and young families, some with ties to the neighborhood’s historic Jewish community, Jones said. “There is a viable business strip. There are some strong civic organizations. There is a high degree of homeownership.”