BRISBANE, Australia–The largest credit union in this country, Credit Union Australia, better known as CUA, is planning to rebrand as Great Southern Bank.
According to Banking Day, the credit union has already registered new business names and domain addresses to reflect the rebrand.
CUA CEO Paul Lewis told the publication the change comes after a concerted effort to emphasize banking products to consumers, with research showing nearly half of Australians did not know what being a “credit union” actually meant.
“If you’re the largest (credit union) and you’re having to not only promote your own brand but actually promote what the category is ... that becomes a bit of a burden and an opportunity cost,” he told the Financial Review. “There are people that are frivolous and say, ‘People don’t go online to do their ‘credit unioning’.”
As CUToday.info has previously reported, Banking Day noted the move by credit unions and mutuals in Australia to include “bank” in their names is not new. Credit unions in the country lost their tax exemption in the early 1990s. One Australian CU exec recently had a caution for credit unions in the U.S. that can be found here.
A bank using the same name, Great Southern Bank, currently operates out of Missouri with offices in four states.
Trade Association Response
Bank Australia began as the CSIRO Cooperative Credit Society in 1957 and rebranded in 2015.
The CEO of the Customer Owned Banking Association (COBA), the trade group to which most Australian credit unions belong, Michael Lawrence, told Savings.com.au the CUA rebrand is commercial in nature.
“COBA’s members are exploring opportunities to build and capitalize on growth that is occurring for the customer-owned banking sector at large," he told the publication. “Regardless of name changes, the customer-owned model remains at the core of our sector. Members are on the front foot of communicating this distinctive and appealing customer-centric approach to a diverse Australian population, including younger generations…This market share underlines the fact that customer owned banking institutions continue to be seen as an attractive proposition for customers."