New York-based Amalgamated Bank has filed applications to acquire the three branches with the Nevada Financial Institutions division, the New York State Banking Department and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Amalgamated and Nevada State Bank declined to disclose terms of the planned branch sales.

The valley branches slated for acquisition this fall are all within Food4Less grocery stores, at 3250 E. Flamingo Road and 4001 S. Decatur Blvd. in Las Vegas, and 255 N. Las Vegas Blvd., North Las Vegas.

Established in 1923, Amalgamated Bank is owned by Unite Here, which is the parent of Culinary Local 226 and Bartenders and Beverage Dispensers Local 165 in Las Vegas.

Amalgamated Bank has 12 locations in New York City, including Manhattan, Queens and the Bronx, and single branches in Washington, D.C., New Jersey and California.

Nevada State Bank employees working at the three branch locations Amalgamated is set to acquire will be transferred to one of Nevada State's 47 other locations, a press release from Nevada State Bank said.

Amalgamated Bank filed its application to acquire the three branches with the New York Banking Department on Aug. 2, according to the department's Web site.

Nevada's decision whether to authorize the acquisition will be made once the FDIC issues its decision, said Steven Kondrup, deputy commissioner of Nevada's financial institution division.

He said Amalgamated Bank had filed with his division its intent to acquire existing Nevada State Bank locations, but the application is confidential.

"Once the (FDIC) decision is made, then the financial division will make its decision, along with the state of New York," Kondrup said.

Keith Pilkington, executive vice president and chief marketing officer for Amalgamated Bank, said Las Vegas was selected because of the size of its union membership.

"It's a tremendous opportunity for us out there," he said.

There are already plans to expand in Las Vegas, with a full-service branch expected to open late 2008.

The branches are expected to grow organically in the market, he said.

Kondrup called Amalgamated Bank's venture into Nevadan banking "unique."

Most out-of-state banks can only acquire branches in Nevada if the branch is located in a county with a population of less than 100,000.

However, during the 2005 Legislature, the Culinary Union and Amalgamated Bank approached the Nevada Senate's Committee on Commerce and Labor, seeking an exception to state law that would allow an out-of-state union-owned bank to acquire branches in Nevada. That amendment became effective Oct. 1, 2005.

While speaking to the committee in 2005, Amalgamated Bank's then-President and Chief Executive Gabriel Caprio said banking services are available to the community as a whole. However, he said the primary customer of Amalgamated is lower-income, non-English speaking workers.

The Culinary Union has 60,000 members and is the largest union in the valley. Many of its members are immigrants and non-native English speakers.

D. Taylor, secretary-treasurer of the Culinary Union, the local's top official, said the bank will assist the union's membership with financial education, creating "better users and consumers" of banking institutions.

Amalgamated is the only wholly union-owned bank in the United States and has $4.2 billion in assets, according to Unite Here's Web site.

Nevada State Bank is the state's fourth largest commercial bank and has more than $4 billion in assets, its Web site said.

"It's the only bank in the United States that can do what Amalgamated Bank did," Bill Uffelman, president and chief executive of Nevada Bankers Association, said.

Many of the people who may use the bank's services are those who cash their paychecks at casinos, bars or check-cashing businesses, Uffelman said.

And while Amalgamated Bank will have only a few branch locations, Uffelman said the size of its assets puts it on a level playing field with institutions such as Nevada State Bank, which has comparable assets.

"They (Amalgamated Bank) will be a competitive power in the community," he said. "Every bank in this valley, every bank in Nevada, they are all competing for business. Reaching out to all segments in this valley is what all banks are trying to do."