The $600 million Vermont State Employees Credit Union, which is embroiled in a legal challenge over the use of the term "banking" in its advertising, appealed Friday for member and public support for its cause, warning an unfavorable outcome could lead to a switch to a federal charter.

In a message posted Thursday on its website describing the latest developments in what it calls a "battle with banks," Steven D.  Post, president/CEO of the Montpelier credit union, called on members to write, email and phone the Department of Financial Regulation to halt a planned cease and desist order. 

• UPDATE, Oct. 8, 2012, Vermont Credit Union, Regulator Settle 'B' Word Dispute

State regulators, joined by the Vermont Bankers Association in defending the proposed ban, contend VSECU and others in the state are violating state law on the language of bank CEOs. According to a spokeswoman for the VBA, VSECU abuses the practice more than others.  

In its online notice, email blasts and a planned op-ed to appear in state papers, VSECU urges its 50,000 members to phone and write the DFR, asking the agency to reverse the cease and desist order on the grounds that the terms "bank" and "banking" are commonly used and that such a policy would cause needless confusion.