Top 10 Reasons Why Credit Unions are better than Banks!
# 1 in Customer Service.
For the twelfth straight year, Canadians have ranked credit unions first in overall Customer Service Excellence and Branch Service Excellence at the annual Ipsos® Best Banking Awards.
Credit unions also ranked first in Mobile Banking Excellence, Online Banking Excellence, and ATM Banking Excellence for the second year running. Belonging to a credit union means enjoying the best online and mobile banking experience in Ontario.
Credit Unions are Owned by their Members.
Unlike the banks, credit unions in Ontario are collectively owned by the people who belong to them. Every member is a shareholder, every shareholder is equal, and every credit union is a cooperative that answers to its members exclusively. You have a say in how your credit union is governed, and your credit union has a real stake in your success.
Buy Local. Bank Local.
Buying local matters. The choice to support local businesses in Ontario is a choice to keep our dollars growing in the very communities where we live, work and play. As these dollars are passed between local businesses and invested back into the community, their value increases. Jobs are created, wages go up, and everyone prospers.
Banking local matters. Your bank may be down the street, but your money couldn’t be further away. Every deposit you make at a bank leaves our community and is reinvested by the bank into who-knows-what and who-knows-where. The profits they make don’t come back to you, either. Those go to their largest shareholders. We think this is a bad deal for Ontario, and it’s most certainly a bad deal for you.
We Share Our Profits.
All our profits are focused on creating real prosperity for our members through dividends or interest rebates, while remaining heavily invested in the communities we call home through community donations and support.
Our Products are Better.
Credit unions offer the same products and services as banks but without the bank.
Ontario’s credit unions are home to the best financial products in the industry. Expect better treatment and competitive rates with fewer fees, along with the personalized service you need to reach your goals.
We’re Safer than Banks.
Canada’s credit unions have combined assets of over $202 billion, more than 5.5 million members, and a network of over 280 credit unions with over 1,800 branches across the country.
We Help Small Businesses Grow.
While many small Ontario businesses require financing to get off the ground or take their business to the next level, the banks have traditionally ignored this market in favour of funding larger, more established companies. Not so with credit unions. Working with our small business members, we’re able to leverage the power of local decision-making to get them the financing they need.
ding free® ATMs.
With over 4,100 ATMs across Canada, Ontario’s credit union members have access to a larger surcharge-free ATM network than most banks, and its ding free from sea to sea. Traveling abroad? Your member card also gives you access to over 500,000 ATMs across the USA, as well as over 800,000 ATMs around the globe.
The Future of Banking isn’t a bank at all.
It may surprise you to know that credit unions have been behind virtually every banking innovation you take for granted. In fact, we were the first financial institutions to introduce Canadians to ATMs, debit cards, online banking, mobile cheque deposit and mobile pay, to name a few. And we’re just getting started.
Think Before You Bank.
Chances are, you’ve never made the connection between where you bank and what you believe in. If you did, you wouldn’t belong to a bank.
Because credit unions are accountable to their members, it’s possible to profit and do good at the same time. We share your values, and that means profiting responsibly through local investment.