Press
CUNA gets dot-credit union domain approval
WASHINGTON, DC (February 26, 2014) —The Credit Union National Association (CUNA) recently received approval of the internet domain “.creditunion” by the worldwide Internet Corporation for Names and Numbers, known as ICANN.
In 2011, ICANN announced it would significantly broaden the number of approved top-level domain names beyond the limited number in use, such as .com, .org, .gov, .edu, and.coop. The action prompted CUNA, with assistance from CUNA Mutual and COOP Financial Services, to submit an application for a “.creditunion” top level domain. CUNA’s application was selected from almost 2,000 generic, top-level domain name applications that had gone to ICANN over the past year.
“People are not just using dot-com domains anymore,” said Eric Richard, CUNA General Counsel. “This influx of new domain names could change the way people use the internet, and credit unions are evolving with the new digital landscape.”
As Richard further noted, the new top level domain is beneficial both as a marketing opportunity and a tool for enhanced security.
“This new domain will be an excellent tool for marketing as well as an opportunity to establish legitimacy and online security. In the wrong hands a “.creditunion” domain could allow someone intent on committing fraud to do so from a seemingly legitimate platform. That is why CUNA will only allow credit union entities to obtain a “.creditunion” extention. As the largest national trade group for credit unions, we felt it important to secure the domain.”
CUNA will initiate a pre-certification process soon. Because “.creditunion” is a financial domain, an extra level of diligence by CUNA is required to ensure that those attempting to deploy the domain are appropriate for the space. That process will begin this spring, and credit unions should expect to hear more information on this very soon.
CUNA has already set up a mechanism for credit unions to register their interest. Interested CUs can email dotcreditunion@cuna.coop and explain their interest and what the specific web address request would be.