MARCY, N.Y. — When all the paperwork has been signed off on, the $24 million Marcy Federal Credit Union will be the seventh credit union to convert to a mutual bank as part of the process of merging with a mutual bank.

Marcy's application to convert has been approved by the Office of Thrift Supervision and the special meeting to finalize the voting on the proposal has been scheduled for Dec. 20. If the members vote to approve it, Marcy will become part of Beacon Federal, a roughly $500 million bank, which was founded as a credit union in 1953 to serve the employees of the Carrier Corporation. The credit union converted to a mutual bank in 1999 and its legacy as a credit union left it with branches in five states, where Carrier had manufacturing and service facilities, as well as enduring relationships with 200 firms working in related industries, according to the bank's Web site.

It also left it with an avenue for expansion through mergers with credit unions. Beginning in 1980 and running until 1995, Beacon Federal absorbed six other credit unions and then picked up the pattern after the conversion. The three other credit unions Beacon Federal has swallowed as a bank include Caney Fork Cooperative Credit Union in McMinnville, Tenn. (2000); the $937,000 Professional Teachers Credit Union, also of McMinnville (2001); and the $8.4 million Salt City Hospital FCU of Syracuse, N. Y. (2003).