British Columbia-based financial services company will shed both its name -- North Shore -- and its “credit union” moniker in a rebranding effort; which may make it easier for brokers to sell clients on its offerings.
British Columbia-based financial services company will shed both its name -- North Shore -- and its “credit union” moniker in a rebranding effort; which may make it easier for brokers to sell clients on its offerings.
“What we saw in our research, more affluent and recent immigrants and people under thirty don’t identify with the credit union name,” Chris Catliff, President of what will soon be called BlueShore Financial. “We’re all proud to be credit unions and we’re staying a credit union, but it has a brand associated with it that doesn’t associate (well with those demographics).”
And the company hopes to continue to build relationships with mortgage professionals.
“With mortgage brokers now, if we can’t place it on our books, we find an alternative lender,” Catliff said. “We consider them a key channel and partnership for us and we think they do common sense lending – it’s been a great relationship.”
Credit Unions are known for their members-first ethos and it appears the company -- under its new alias – is looking to continue that tradition while also expanding its image to portray a high-end boutique; having already remodelled its stores to feature a west coast a motif.
“Our typical clients are double income, have aging parents, kids at school or just about to go to university; they’ve got car payments, may have bitten off more on their house than they should (have), and (their) life is trying and complex with a lot of issues,” Catliff said in a statement. “(They can come into) our tranquil financial spas and (we will) create a roadmap for them. Essentially, we say ‘we’ve got your back,’ and we find that this target market resonates strongly with our offer.”
Another reason for the name change is to shed the “north shore” image – something that doesn’t encapsulate how far-reaching the company is.
“Our new name no longer geographically ties us to the North Shore,” Catliff said. “We do business as far away as Alberta; we’re a regional player and over 70 per cent of our business is off the North Shore.”
