PALO ALTO, Calif. – Stanford FCU, one of a few large California credit unions that have stayed profitable throughout the state’s financial turmoil, on Wednesday announced its president and CEO John Davis is retiring May 14.
Stanford FCU has hired Joan Opp, chief financial officer at Texas Trust CU, a $650 million credit union in Mansfield, Texas, to succeed Davis as CEO.
Davis was hired at Stanford FCU in 1996 as chief financial officer. He was promoted to CEO of the then-$160 million credit union in 1999 and grew it to $1.1 billion. The credit union earned a $7.6 million net in 2009, even after a $6.3 million charge for the corporate credit union bailout, and a $6.4 million net in 2008, even after big write-offs for its capital in WesCorp FCU.
During his tenure the credit union, which serves Stanford University, was on the forefront of many of the trends in financial services, introducing a debit card program with free rewards; relationship checking with tiered benefits; commercial lending programs; and the credit union’s popular “Beat the Rate” program, designed to beat the advertised CD rates of other California providers.
He also oversaw Stanford FCU’s purchase of commercial property on Embarcadero Road that now serves as the credit union’s corporate headquarters.
