Sometimes New Names Take Action

A Michigan credit union has exchanged a personal pronoun for a verb to become the Bloom Credit Union.

The credit union, which until Monday was known as My Personal Credit Union, made the name change “to better represent the organization’s goal of helping people thrive financially,” according to a news release from Bloom Credit Union ($140.2 million in assets, 14,000 members), based in Wyoming, Mich., just southwest of Grand Rapids.

President/CEO Daniel Baines said the change followed a review of its mission, vision, core values and market positioning by the board and management.

“The new name and the credit union’s new mission of ’Helping cultivate your dreams’ will better position the credit union for the future,” said Baines.

Baines was also CEO in 2005 when the credit union changed its name from Multi-Products Credit Union to My Personal Credit Union. At the time, the credit union had just been granted a community charter, and wanted a name to appeal to a larger base of west Michigan residents.

However, Baines said Tuesday that My Personal Credit Union “was a bit confusing to many, a little long, and it didn’t really fit with where we were going as an organization.”

“The new name is distinct, easy to remember, in line with our historical strengths, and it will allow us to focus on our passion for helping people thrive financially,” he said.

But had Baines been interested in “thrive” for a name, he would have found it taken by Thrive Federal Credit Union, Muncie, Ind. ($57.7 million in assets, 6,287 members).

Others choosing similar verbs include Aspire Federal Credit Union, Clark, N.J. ($137.1 million in assets, 21,337 members), Grow Financial Federal Credit Union, Tampa, Fla. ($2.7 billion in assets, 204,167 members) and Gain Federal Credit Union, Burbank, Calif. ($347.6 million in assets, 19,686 members)

As fields of membership have widened, several credit unions have turned to variants of yours, mine and ours to better reflect their new blended families. There is a My Credit Union in Redwood City, Calif. ($31.7 million in assets, 2,315 members). A second My Credit Union ($49.3 million in assets, 7,359 members) carries the name in Watauga, Texas in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, doubling down on personal pronouns with its slogan “Make My Credit Union, Your Credit Union!”

Other credit unions with personal pronouns include:

• Your Best Credit Union, Nashville ($17.2 million in assets, 2,067 members)
• Your Choice Federal Credit Union, Altoona, Pa. ($10.7 million in assets, 1,630 members)
• Your Hometown Federal Credit Union, Mayfield, Ky. ($19.3 million in assets, 2,411 members)
• Your Legacy Federal Credit Union, Tiffin, Ohio ($61.3 million in assets, 6,932 members)
• My Community Credit Union, Midland, Texas ($442.2 million in assets, 36,203 members)
• My Healthcare Federal Credit Union, Gainesville, Fla. ($24.9 million in assets, 4,017 members)
• My Pensacola Federal Credit Union, Pensacola, Fla. ($70.8 million in assets, 4,874 members)
• Our Credit Union, Royal Oak, Mich. ($258 million in assets, 22,121 members)
• Our Community Credit Union, Shelton, Wash. ($413.4 million in assets, 33,298 members).