Arizona Federal Credit Union announced today it is officially changing its name to Arizona Financial Credit Union, effective July 1, in line with its conversion from a federally-chartered to a state-chartered credit union. As part of the change to a state charter, the credit union is required to remove the word “federal” from its name.
Earlier this year, the credit union’s members voted to approve the charter change. With the new state charter, the credit union will be able to provide financial services to individuals and businesses across 10 Arizona counties. The federal charter limited the credit union’s field of membership to serving only Maricopa and Pinal counties and the City of Tucson.
“Changing our charter allows us to serve individuals and businesses across Arizona, and we think the word ‘financial’ in our name is much more descriptive of what we do,” said Ronald L. Westad, president and CEO. “The charter change will also result in greater value for our members, by giving us the ability to continue investments in new products and services such as enhanced online services and new locations.”
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For the credit union’s 145,000 member-owners, there will be no impact to their accounts due to the charter change and name change. Credit cards, debit cards, checks, automatic deposits/withdrawals, and direct deposit will work as normal.
In the upcoming months, the credit union will be updating its name on ATMs and signs at its 14 locations across the Valley. Due to the scale of the project and challenges with supply chain issues, the rebranding project is expected to be completed by this fall.
In addition, as the sponsor of the Arizona Federal Theatre in downtown Phoenix, the credit union is working with the venue’s operator, Live Nation, to rename the theatre Arizona Financial Theatre. Renaming will be completed in the coming months.
The counties making up Arizona Financial’s new field of membership include Coconino, Gila, La Paz, Maricopa, Mohave, Navajo, Pima, Pinal, Yavapai and Yuma.
In March, the credit union announced its planned acquisition of Horizon Community Bank, a $550 million community bank, headquartered in Lake Havasu City with six branches in Fort Mohave, Kingman, Lake Havasu City, Mesa, Parker and Quartzsite. The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of 2022. This will be the credit union’s second community bank acquisition following its successful purchase of Pinnacle Bank in 2019.
For more information about Arizona Financial Credit Union, visit ArizonaFinancial.org.
