One Nevada new name of Nevada Federal Credit Union
Nevada Federal Credit Union has changed its name to One Nevada Credit Union as part of the company’s previously announced conversion to a state-chartered, federally insured financial institution, the credit union’s president said Monday.
“We’re excited about our new name and optimistic about our future,” One Nevada Credit Union President and CEO Brad Beal said. “With the struggling Nevada economy, the last few years have been challenging for the communities we serve.”
He said the new name and charter expansion would allow for more “growth and expansion in the future.” The Las Vegas-based credit union has served all of Clark County but had been restricted to small, inner-city areas of Reno, Sparks and Pahrump.
A conversion to a state charter also allows One Nevada to serve all of Washoe and Nye counties.
In a letter to its members, Beal stressed the name change didn’t mean, “the credit union (had been) bought out or merged into another credit union.”
On Aug. 30, the credit union approved the conversion to a Nevada state-chartered, federally insured credit union. Federal law allows only federally chartered credit unions to use the word “federal” in their names.
Federal credit unions organize themselves around federal regulations, while state chartered institutions follow state banking laws, according to the National Credit Union Association.
New signs and billboards went up over the weekend as part of a “soft launch.” Changes inside branches and on internal and member documents are expected to be completed over the next 60 to 90 days, said Greg Barnes, One Nevada’s senior vice president of marketing.
Barnes said the conversion and rebranding were expected to cost $700,000. He said the credit union planned to launch a bigger marketing campaign early next year.
For the second quarter of 2011, the credit union lost $2.29 million, compared with a profit in the first quarter of the year of $157,672. The loss was attributed to
$8.63 million being set aside for loan-loss provisions and a $750,000 premium paid to the Federal Deposit Insurance fund.
Without the two set-asides, One Nevada would have earned $7.1 million from operations, according to the credit union’s second-quarter financial report.
Membership in the Las Vegas-based credit union is open to residents in Clark, Nye and Washoe counties. One Nevada, with $667 million in assets, operates 19 branches and 65 ATMs and serves 79,000 members.