The newly merged Teachers Credit Union and Prosperity One Credit Union have a new name: Tandia.
The rebranding was created by Toronto-based communications company Corktown Seed Co., as well as a board with members of both credit unions, after the companies combined in January.
Tandia is a portmanteau of “tandem” and the spanish word dia, which means day. “It means working together, every day,” says Rachel Osborne, associate vice-president for marketing and business development at Tandia.
It reflects a broader shift in the company’s clients. “We’ve changed to an open bond credit union, and we are going to be focused on the broader community,” although the Teachers Credit Union market ofeducation professionals will remain a target as well, says Osborne.
The new company, which will include 15 branches and 30,000 members throughout the Golden Horseshoe region of Ontario, also has a new logo. It’s made up of both unions’ colours, as well a five hands coming together, “symbolic of a partnership,” says Osborne.
Tandia will also describe itself as a cooperative bank, not a credit union. That aligns it with the The Alliance of Large Ontario Credit Unions’ “Ontario Awareness Campaign,” which is pushing the idea of cooperative banking. The public, especially the younger generation, isn’t aware of what a credit union is, Osborne says, and the idea of a cooperative bank is almost self-explanatory.
“Since we’re launching a brand new name and brand, its the perfect opportunity to leverage this ‘Ontario Awareness Campaign,’ to be one of the first one out there saying we’re a cooperative bank,” says Osborne.
A full marketing campaign for Tandia will roll out after the brand elements are in place, as early as this summer.
