The consolidation of credit unions within the Sydney basin is ticking over, with two mid-sized credit unions reaching terms for a merger.On Friday, Endeavour Mutual Bank and Sydney Credit Union announced they had "signed a memorandum of understanding to merge the two organisations."Mark Worthington, chief executive of Endeavour Mutual, said that "Sydney Credit Union, and Endeavour's predecessor organisations (Select and Encompass credit unions) have enjoyed a long history of close co-operation."The decision to merge will create a mutual bank with approximately 75,000 members, A$1.5 billion in assets, 200 employees, and 26 branches in and around Sydney."This will make the merged ADI part of the group of 26 mutual banks, building societies and credit unions that each have in excess of $1 billion in assets.Sydney Credit Union will contribute the bulk of the combined asset base, with around $850 million in assets at its last balance date. SCU has its origins serving staff of Sydney City Council, and, like Endeavour, is the product of a number of mergers over the years.Endeavour Mutual Bank adopted its current branding early this month, and is one of 22 entities to trade under "mutual bank" colours. In-market unions in the Sydney region have been a feature of the mergers of mutual ADIs over the last couple of years. This list includes: Quay Credit Union folding into G&C Mutual Bank; Fire Brigade Employees into Teachers Mutual Bank; Shell Employees and Bankstown City credit unions into Unity Bank; and Manly Warringah into Community First. Two more partnered with interstate entities with national ambitions: My Credit Union folded into to Beyond Bank; while Intech folded into Bank Australia.There are barely any credit unions remaining in the Sydney region with assets of $100 million or less.One of these, Central Coast Credit Union (with $42 million in assets) this month called off a merger with Australian Military Bank.A second, Cronulla - based CAPE Credit Union, is scouting for a partner.William Rankine, chair of the board of CAPE, told members in its annual report that "because of the difficult operating outlook, the board has determined that it is in the best interests of CAPE's members if we now pursue a merger with a much larger Credit Union."We feel this is best done while we are in a strong financial position and not a weak one."