Founded in 1955, BrightBridge Credit Union (BrightBridge) is a state-chartered community credit union with over $2.4 billion in assets. Our Corporate Office is located in Lawrence, Massachusetts. We currently serve over 115,000 members in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island, offering a wide range of savings and loan products, commercial services and digital banking to meet the financial needs of our growing member base. Our network of twenty-eight branches stretching from New Hampshire through Massachusetts down to Rhode Island comprise nineteen community branches and nine workplace branches.
We are focused on serving families, individuals and businesses with the credit union philosophy of "people helping people". We believe in giving back to the communities we serve and demonstrate our commitment through our sponsorships of non-profit organizations, employee volunteer program, and financial literacy initiatives.
Our dedicated Board of Directors & Management team puts you first in all we do.
1955: MVCU is founded as the Communications Workers Employee Credit Union by Union Local 1365 in North Andover, MA. The name quickly changed to Merrimack Valley Credit Union. G. Harvey Ellis was our first General Manager.
1962: We reached the $1 million in assets milestone! Duncan MacLeod is now the General Manager.
1990s: Our field of membership opened up to serve more than 200 employer groups in the Merrimack Valley as well as their family members.
2005: MVCU converted to a community charter, allowing us to serve eligible members in the Merrimack Valley. Peter J. Matthews Jr. is the President & CEO.
2007: Our Corporate Office moved to Lawrence, MA, and we have five branches.
2016: We opened our sixth branch in Seabrook, NH.
2018: MVCU became a state-chartered credit union.
2019: MVCU merged with Bridgewater Credit Union, allowing us to serve members both in the Merrimack Valley and the south-shore region of Massachusetts. John J. Howard became our President & CEO.
2020: MVCU merged with the Ocean Spray Employees Federal Credit Union, expanding our field of membership to include all Ocean Spray employees and contract growers.
2021: MVCU expanded the field of membership to include additional counties in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island.
2023: MVCU merged with RTN Federal Credit Union to welcome 40,000 additional members of RTN's Select Employer Groups and community members.
2025: MVCU becomes BrightBridge Credit Union.
We are a financially sound and well-capitalized credit union. What this means is that we can expand the products and services we offer to better fit your financial needs. Despite our growth, our passion for serving our members has never wavered. We have your best interest at heart!
News
BrightBridge Credit Union (BrightBridge) and Arrha Credit Union are pleased to announce their intent to merge, combining two strong, member-focused institutions to enhance the value delivered to their members and communities. BrightBridge will be the continuing credit union. This strategic partnership is rooted in a shared mission to provide exceptional service, competitive financial products and a strong community presence.
BrightBridge Credit Union (BrightBridge) and its President & CEO John J. Howard were featured in the June/July’25 issue of Forbes magazine. The profile highlights the credit union’s people-first culture, innovative member service model and unwavering commitment to making BrightBridge both the best place anyone has ever worked and the best place anyone has ever banked. In the spotlight, Howard reflects on BrightBridge’s mission and reaffirms the cultural values that set the credit union apart in today’s competitive financial landscape.
BrightBridge Credit Union (BrightBridge) is proud to welcome Frank Call as its new Vice President, Head of Commercial Lending. With a 25-year career in banking and finance and a long-standing commitment to community involvement, Call brings a wealth of experience and leadership to the BrightBridge team. Born and raised in Medford, Massachusetts, Call began his career in banking as a high school student working as a teller at Medford Cooperative Bank. He steadily advanced through the retail ranks before transitioning to Citizens Bank as a business banking officer
On Wednesday, June 11, BrightBridge Credit Union (BrightBridge) awarded a total of $27,500 in scholarships to 19 graduating seniors from schools throughout Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire. The students were honored with a ceremony and dinner with BrightBridge’s senior leadership team at the credit union’s corporate office in Lawrence, Massachusetts. Two of the scholarship awards honor members of the BrightBridge and former RTN Federal Credit Union communities.
BrightBridge Credit Union (BrightBridge) recently brought beauty and kindness to the community by hosting a series of bouquet-making events in partnership with the Power of Flowers Project, a nonprofit dedicated to sharing joy through flowers. Founded in 2009, Power of Flowers repurposes donated flowers into bouquets and delivers them to seniors and veterans in local care facilities to “improve their quality of life, to reduce loneliness and depression, and to let them know they are valued.” The credit union welcomed the Power of Flowers team for three “Kindness Connection Workshops” at its corporate offices in Lawrence, Waltham and Bridgewater.