Anheuser-Busch Employees’ Credit Union Becomes Together Credit Union
The credit union said it considered more than 2,000 new names.
St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch Employees’ Credit Union and its divisions American Eagle Credit Union and Purina Credit Union have rebranded to become Together Credit Union.
The credit unions will begin operating under the new name on November 12, according to a press release.
“We are proud of the rich history associated with our three brand names. However, we are competing in a market where several industry competitors and non-industry businesses had similar names,” President and CEO Bob McKay said. “Like most SEG-named credit unions have found, our research indicates that migrating to a new, single brand name will improve consumer recognition and eliminate field of membership confusion.”
The credit union said it considered more than 2,000 new names before settling on Together Credit Union.
“Together Credit Union ranked first in all research categories including emotional connection, relevance, likeability, recall and purchase intent,” it noted.
The field of membership will remain the same, it added.
“Previously, as Anheuser-Busch Employees’ Credit Union, we also maintained divisions under the names Purina Credit Union and American Eagle Credit Union in certain locations. Although we operated under three names, we were one organization with a single purpose. As Together Credit Union, we will be able to communicate that purpose more clearly,” the credit union noted on its website. The credit union also said the amount of time and resources it took to maintain three brands was a factor.
Anheuser-Busch Employees’ Credit Union has $1.8 billion in assets and about 133,000 members.
“All three of our names were easy to get confused with other companies. We saw this a lot. ‘Anheuser-Busch’ and ‘Purina’ might be more obvious, but even ‘American Eagle’ was often confused with American Eagle Outfitters, American Eagle Airlines, or one of the many other businesses that share the name. There is even an American Eagle Federal Credit Union, which confused both their members and ours,” it added.
The credit union is one of the latest in a string of rebrands done to alleviate membership confusion.
About a year ago, for example, Halliburton Employees’ Federal Credit Union became Endurance Federal Credit Union after its research revealed that consumers believed they had to work for Halliburton in order to join. Likewise, St. Helens, Ore.-based St. Helens Community Credit Union changed its name to InRoads Credit Union last December after learning that its original name was causing confusion among potential members living outside of the town regarding their eligibility for membership.
InRoads has $244 million in assets and about 16,000 members. Duncan, Okla.-based Endurance has $150 million in assets; it also has about 16,000 members.