SOMERVILLE, Mass. — CPCU Credit Union here plans to rebrand itself as Naveo CU, effective sometime this fall.
The $114 million-asset credit union said in a statement that the rebrand was borne out of a desire to make the credit union more inclusive and eliminate confusion about who can join. CU officials elected to change the credit union's name in 2013, and the change was approve at CPCU's annual meeting on April 29, 2014. The new name still needs to be approved by the Massachusetts Division of Banks.
Originally chartered as Cambridge Portuguese CU in 1928, CPCU subsequently abbreviated its name and converted to a community charter in 2007. The new name, Naveo, has strong ties to the Portugese people's navigational skills and derives from the Portuguese word "navio," which means "ship." The CU said the new name encompasses CPCU's heritage, as well as inclusion.
"Naveo is a name that is about providing support and helping members find their way on their financial journey," it said in a statement.
The credit union worked with Weber Marketing Group to come up with the new name.
"This name change gives continuity to our earlier efforts when in 2007 we changed our field of membership to go beyond the Portuguese speaking community," CEO Rui F. Domingos said in a statement. "I hope that our members will be just as excited about this change and our promising future."
Maria L. Santos, chairperson of the board at CPCU, said the new name "identifies the credit union's heritage and keeps us all moving forward with the tides and enduring the continuous change that is inevitable."
