IOWA CITY, Iowa — How much do members really care about credit union name changes? Like last winter's "Optiva" flap at the $575 million University of Iowa Community Credit Union.
"I guess a loss of 24 members out of 50,000 speaks for itself," said Jim Kelly, the CU's senior vice president–marketing. That's how many apparently quit the CU as a fallout from the member vote and re-vote in February on the much-publicized and failed plan to convert to "Optiva CU."
It was "a bigger affair in the media" than it was in the minds of CU members, said Kelly.
Nonetheless, the college administration, which pushed for the name change in 2006 citing various reasons, could still pressure the state's second largest CU to come up with a new name, sources said.
There were widely circulated reports last year that university regents, under pressure from the Iowa Bankers Association alarmed at the CU's competitive reach, had sought the name change.
"We have our brand and it may be the university wants total control over their brand," said Kelly.
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