Ocean Financial Federal Credit Union Opens 'Micro Branch' Inside Mercy Hospital

ROCKVILLE CENTRE, NY. — Ocean Financial Federal Credit Union cut the ribbons on its newest location Tuesday, opening a “micro branch” inside the campus of Catholic Health’s Mercy Hospital.

The 200-square-foot branch will feature two member service representatives (MSRs) and a hybrid teller station, all open from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. It’s the credit union’s second micro branch, after its first was opened at Molloy University in 2024.

For Ocean Financial President and CEO Joe Tedesco, the idea to put a branch in a hospital campus was actually inspired by a similar branch, opened at a different Catholic Health hospital, St. Francis Hospital & Heart Center in Roslyn. That branch, he said, had some success and “is really tied in and part of…the St. Francis community,” Tedesco said.

“It made perfect sense for us, given that Mercy Hospital is, you know, right in our backyard, so to speak, right in our core market,” Tedesco said.

When asked about his hopes for the new branch, Tedesco said it’s a chance to meet people where they are.

“We look at that as financial health. And you’ve got over a thousand folks in that hospital every day focused on physical health,” Tedesco said. “And so, for us, we thought it was a really good link to be in there and add convenience and then help those folks in there with, obviously, we've got a lot of products and services, and we feel like we offer very competitive rates and very competitive technology. But if we can focus in on their financial well-being and help those people that are in there every day be financially healthy, that's our goal.”

When asked what kind o services the micro branch would offer, Tedesco said it would give customers the chance to take care of all of their banking needs without ever leaving the hospital campus.

“You can do everything there that you can do in our other two larger, full service branches. So I think sometimes people think they hear ‘micro branch,’ and [think] that means micro service, and micro availability. And it is a full service branch,” Tedesco said. “I think the biggest surprise for folks has been, ‘Oh, my gosh, you're going to be here five days a week, a pretty substantial amount of hours, and we can walk in and do everything from soup to nuts in that little micro facility? That's fantastic.’ We also have an ATM, not only taking cash, but deposits and those kind of things, too. So we do have an ATM that's available 24-7 on premise.”

For Joseph Manopella, President of Mercy Hospital, the partnership with Ocean Financial is a chance to take the hospital’s mission beyond its walls, offering in-house financial service to the people that administer care there every day.

“Supporting our people isn’t just about what happens inside our walls—it’s about helping them thrive in life. We’re proud to offer our employees meaningful, in-house access to financial partners like Ocean Financial, who can help them feel more confident about their future,”