Weber State FCU to Become Ascent Credit Union

Ogden, Utah-based Weber State Federal Credit Union announced this week that it will change its name to Ascent Credit Union next year.

The $130 million credit union, which has about 10,000 members, said the move is part of an effort to grow membership beyond Weber County, Utah, and into nearby Davis, Box Elder and Morgan counties. The new name takes effect on May 1, 2020.

“While we will always be a dedicated partner to Weber State University, as our original founders were faculty/staff of the university, we needed a name that was more reflective of our membership as a whole and will allow us to grow and expand into new areas,” President and CEO Vickie van der Have said. “We chose the name Ascent because it is unique and represents what our true purpose is — to inspire upward financial success and to help our members achieve their dreams.”

The credit union said it also planned to improve its business accounts and offer new business loans to members as part of the rebrand.

“Expanding into different communities brings with it a whole new business demographic, and we’re ready to help in as many ways as we can,” Chief Lending Officer John Cole said.

Weber State Federal Credit Union is one of several credit unions that have announced plans in recent months to change their names.

Brigham City, Utah-based Box Elder County Federal Credit Union, for example, announced it will become Elevate Credit Union next year. The credit union, which has $140 million in assets and about 12,000 members, said it was changing its name in order to better reflect its current membership base. The new name takes effect on January 1, 2020.

Last June, Missoula, Mont.-based Missoula Federal Credit Union announced it would become Clearwater Credit Union. That credit union has $554 million in assets and about 51,000 members.

And in July, SF Police Credit Union and GEMC Federal Credit Union both changed their names in order to better reflect their fields of membership, according to separate announcements from the credit unions. Tucker, Ga.-based GEMC Federal Credit Union, which has $123 million in assets and about 13,000 members, became Go Energy Financial; San Bruno, Calif.-based SF Police Credit Union, which has $931 million in assets and about 42,000 members, changed its name to The Police Credit Union of California.

More recently, St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch Employees’ Credit Union and its divisions American Eagle Credit Union and Purina Credit Union rebranded to become Together Credit Union, which has $1.8 billion in assets and about 133,000 members. In addition, Saginaw, Mich.-based Saginaw Medical Federal Credit Union, which has $138 million in assets and about 12,000 members, became Health Advantage Credit Union. That change took effect on November 1 and was intended to reflect a larger field of membership and service to the healthcare industry, according to the credit union.