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Banks and Credit Unions


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#1 UrbanRail

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Posted 24 May 2012 - 07:53 PM

I can't remember if this has been discussed before and not sure if this is the right spot to put this.

I am curious to know what members think of credit unions and are they any better than banks.

The three credit unions that come to mind are; Van City, Coast Capital and Island Savings.

I appologize to the mods if this has been discussed before.

#2 spanky123

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Posted 24 May 2012 - 08:06 PM

I think that credit unions are great for personal banking and not so much for commercial.

#3 UrbanRail

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Posted 24 May 2012 - 08:07 PM

I was refering to mostly personal banking.

#4 Bernard

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Posted 25 May 2012 - 10:24 AM

Over the last 20 years there has been a massive consolidation of the Credit Unions in BC they effect of this is that they are much less connected to the members than they used to be. I was a long time Credit Union member but I really no longer feel they are what they once were. I am now with the Bank of Nova Scotia - this is mainly because this is where my wife was banking before we married and I had to close all my joint accounts with my ex-wife.

I understand the need for the Credit Unions to merge to become large enough to compete with the banks with new technology. Teh danger is that they are becoming more and more like the big banks. I would not surprised if one of the Credit Unions de-mutualizes.

Coast Capital is a merger of four credit unions
Island Savings is a merger of two credit unions and two insurance businesses
VanCity is a merger of eight credit unions

There was a time when we had three credit unions exclusively in Victoria - Westcoast, Greater Victoria and Pacific Savings. We do not have a single credit union based in Victoria

#5 Candarius

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Posted 25 May 2012 - 05:41 PM

I am with VanCity and am very happy to be there. We had a so-so experience with two banks before signing up with VanCity and currently have no intentions of ever going back to the major banks.

With the banks, we dealt with a rotating cast of managers who were never prepared for our meetings and generally had no idea what what our situation was.

With VanCity we have the same account manager we met when we first signed up and they are always prepared for us by having had time to review our accounts before we meet rather than as we are meeting. Plus our manager came to visit us after the birth of our first child as that arrival had prevented us from making our appointment the previous week. Yes...a home visit from a bank person!

Plus we like the way VanCity gives you a discount on having more products with them, and the way they provide a member dividend each year.

#6 AllseeingEye

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Posted 25 May 2012 - 06:29 PM

As an ex-manager at Coast Capital for ~ 5 years I will say how impressed I was from a purely internal perspective at how much effort was in fact spent on differentiating ourselves from the major banks; the organization not ony walked the walk but actively talked it too.

Great effort was put forth not only to really connect with customers at every opportunity and on multiple levels but, in addition, since it is part of the heritage of all credit unions, great pride was taken in terms of community participation and support. Events we really went the extra mile for were the Cops for Cancer and sponsorship of the Tall Ships festival, to name but two examples. CCS was also instrumental in establishing and initially providing funding for the Mood Disorders Center of Excellence @ UBC: you won't find the major banks nearly so involved in "community affairs" to anywhere near the degree of the average CU.

To correct a minor error above Coast Capital was in fact the result of the merger of three credit unions (not four), namely Pacific Coast Savings (Victoria) and Richmond Savings which was the initial merge resulting in the first iteration of Coast Capital Savings, with Surrey Metro Savings merging into the company in June 2002. It was also in many respects modelled on Washingtin Mutual Savings organization which at the time (early 2000's) was one of the most respected and successful financial institutions in North America.

#7 Bernard

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Posted 26 May 2012 - 07:47 PM

Pacific Coast was the merger of Pacific savings and Westcoast savings, two Victoria credit unions that both almost went under in the mid 1980s

#8 AllseeingEye

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Posted 26 May 2012 - 10:17 PM

Well aware of the history of CCS Bernard; regardless WC was not at play during the merge that created CCS for the simple fact it had already been merged into Pac Coast well beforehand.

Check out the "History" link on the CCS webpage - there is rightly no mention of WC which had long since disappeared by the time Coast Capital came into being. Using that logic then Coast was the result of many more than four credit unions, if you include those which had also previously merged with Richmond Savings and Surrey Metro when they were independents. Technically and legally the entity that is CCS today is the result of the merger of three CU's.

#9 spanky123

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Posted 27 May 2012 - 08:29 AM

It was also in many respects modelled on Washingtin Mutual Savings organization which at the time (early 2000's) was one of the most respected and successful financial institutions in North America.


Right up until the time it became the biggest bank failure in US history!

#10 bluefox

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Posted 27 May 2012 - 11:16 AM

I am with VanCity and am very happy to be there. We had a so-so experience with two banks before signing up with VanCity and currently have no intentions of ever going back to the major banks.


I have to say this is exactly the way I see it. I have my credit card with Vancity too and wish the online account service was a bit better but overall the services and amenities for members are just as good as at a commercial bank but with the added perk of people actually remembering who you are (and things about you) when you come through the door. The no-fee ATMs throughout North America are a big plus too.
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#11 AllseeingEye

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Posted 27 May 2012 - 02:03 PM

Right up until the time it became the biggest bank failure in US history!



Quite correct however yet again I must point out the key part of my comment was - and I quote - "at the time": "early 2000's" certainly is not 2008, when WaMu ultimately failed. To then, and beyond, frankly, you can't argue with the success of Coast Capital Savings as a business model. It works, and does so very, very well both for the benefit of its own financial health and that of its members. I should point out I left the org in February 2008 and therefore have no grist in the game one way or the other. Merely pointing out salient facts. One other key difference too is that WaMu demutualized and actually became a public entity back in the early 80's - a significant difference between them and a member-driven organization like CCS.

#12 LJ

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Posted 27 May 2012 - 06:35 PM

I have to say this is exactly the way I see it. I have my credit card with Vancity too and wish the online account service was a bit better but overall the services and amenities for members are just as good as at a commercial bank but with the added perk of people actually remembering who you are (and things about you) when you come through the door. The no-fee ATMs throughout North America are a big plus too.


I have had accounts at both CU's and banks and frankly didn't notice much difference. In years past it might have been important to have people remember you when you come through the doors, now, however I go through the doors so seldom I would hardly expect them to remember me.

I find the international services better with the bank I am with, and I can do almost anything I want online or over the phone.
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#13 bluefox

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Posted 27 May 2012 - 06:58 PM

I have had accounts at both CU's and banks and frankly didn't notice much difference. In years past it might have been important to have people remember you when you come through the doors, now, however I go through the doors so seldom I would hardly expect them to remember me.

I find the international services better with the bank I am with, and I can do almost anything I want online or over the phone.


Well, here's just one example.

Last week before leaving on my trip I called into Vancity to have them leave a travel note on both my Visa and my bank accounts, which the rep did (and he was quite helpful).

About a week later I as having a problem with my Visa during my trip, I called in and found out that, long story short, my hotel had mistakenly charged the daily incidentals hold (which I was expecting) and even though I hadn't checked out yet, the balance remaining on the room (which I was not expecting), and that resulted in the card being suspended because the amount was so large.

I got the same rep and he remembered me the instant the call connected and I identified myself, and not even after a while.

Now considering how many people he talked to in the span of that week, I find it quite impressive. Not only would nobody at a corporate bank remember me, I don't even get the same feeling of assurance and service that I have gotten from Vancity.

Or maybe it's just CIBC that sucks. ;)
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#14 sebberry

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Posted 01 December 2016 - 09:16 PM

I am told that a Coast Capital business banking account cannot receive Interac e-Transfers.  Seems a little antiquated to me.


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#15 Redd42

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Posted 01 December 2016 - 10:03 PM

I am told that a Coast Capital business banking account cannot receive Interac e-Transfers.  Seems a little antiquated to me.

 

That's interesting. We SEND Interac transfers from our Coast Capital business acct all the time (like yesterday). Also receive international bank transfers. Must admit we don't use that account to send Interac transfers though so that might be true. Oh, yeah, we also use that account to receive transfers from Paypal. 

 

BTW, we only use the Coast Captial account for doing this kind of transfer and not for every day business banking 'cause we found them not very business friendly. 



#16 bluefox

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Posted 06 December 2016 - 09:31 PM

I am told that a Coast Capital business banking account cannot receive Interac e-Transfers.  Seems a little antiquated to me.

 

Which is funny because if you have a personal account with Coast you can only transfer to and from people outside the credit union with Interac e-Transfers. Otherwise you've gotta use good old fashioned cheques. :P


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#17 sebberry

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Posted 06 December 2016 - 10:57 PM

I was surprised to learn of this when we switched property management companies who wanted to move all our accounts to Coast Capital.  I asked what email address I should send the e-Transfers to and was told that they weren't accepted by Coast Capital. 

 

They've since worked to get this in place which I'm happy about. 

 

A previous property management company helped themselves to several hundred out of an owner's account to recover the cost of some damage and I've personally had issues with post-dated cheques being cashed prematurely.  No way was I opening up my bank account to pre-authorized debits or writing cheques.  Heck, a chequebook alone is $60 these days.  Not buying one, no thanks...


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#18 G-Man

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Posted 07 December 2016 - 09:26 PM

I receive and send interac e-transfers all the time with coast capital. If you want to send to another member you can do that to right in the app on your phone. Not sure where everyone is getting their information on this.

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#19 VicHockeyFan

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Posted 08 December 2016 - 09:04 AM

I receive and send interac e-transfers all the time with coast capital. If you want to send to another member you can do that to right in the app on your phone. Not sure where everyone is getting their information on this.

 

They did not have it until fairly recently, that's all.


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#20 Redd42

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Posted 08 December 2016 - 09:43 AM

Sebs comment was about whether BUSINESS accounts at Coast Capital could RECEIVE e-transfers. He was told that they couldn't. 

 

I SEND e-transfers from a Coast Capital BUSINESS account all the time but have never needed to receive one in the business account. 



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