Credit Union Central of Manitoba (CUCM) now has its own site, cucm.org.
 
Formerly incorporated into the public site, the new, stand-alone site allows CUCM to talk about itself a little more, in terms of its identity, purpose and values, as well as the services it provides to Manitoba credit unions.
 
With its own career listings, "working at CUCM" pages, and community engagement story, visitors and prospective employees should come away with a more complete picture of this vital credit union support organization.

Manitoba's Credit Unions site refreshed 
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CUCM is also pleased to announce the launch of a refreshed public “Manitoba's Credit Unions” website, creditunion.mb.ca, for members of the public who want to learn more about credit unions and what they have to offer.

(We see you've found us. Welcome.)

In addition to general information about what makes credit unions unique, as member-owned co-operatives in the financial services industry, visitors can locate and connect to one of the 25 credit unions in the province, and use an interactive map to find one of their 180 locations. A similar map points them to the location of ATMs in Manitoba's (and Canada's) extensive credit union surcharge-free ATM network.
 
The site is bright, colourful, and succinct in its presentation of current facts and stats on Manitoba credit unions, the story of the financial co-operative system, and system career opportunities.
 
"The purpose of the site is to pique people's interest enough that they will take the next step and consider joining a Manitoba credit union," says Louise Smith, CUCM's VP of Knowledge and Strategy. "If credit unions see an uptick in traffic from our site, we'll have accomplished what we set out to do."

From one grassroots-minded group to another grassroots-minded group, Manitoba Forage and Grassland Association (MFGA) announced, on May 9, that nine Manitoba credit unions have committed $38,500 to the MFGA and the MFGA Aquanty Project over the next three years.

"It's our responsibility to live and promote co-operative values to Manitobans," said Tim Klassen, CEO of Sunrise Credit Union and one of the driving forces behind the funding. "We believe the MFGA and the MFGA Aquanty Project for the Assiniboine River Basin are in very strong alignment with credit unions' dedication towards making Manitoba a great place to live for all Manitobans."

Westoba Credit Union CEO Jim Rediger, who worked with Klassen to promote the sponsorship to their colleagues, agreed.

"As financial cooperatives, credit unions are committed to the communities we serve," he said, "At Westoba, we look to support projects with long-term and wide reaching benefits. The MFGA Aquanty Project is an excellent investment in a more sustainable future for us all."

Besides Sunrise and Westoba, the sponsorship is funded by Access, Beautiful Plains, Crosstown Civic, Flin Flon, Noventis, Stride and Swan Valley credit unions.

The MFGA's highest-profile project underway right now is the MFGA Aquanty Project, a HydroGeoSphere high-resolution model of the Assiniboine River Basin to look at the role of forages and grasslands in times of future flood and drought in the basin. The model-building component of the MFGA Aquanty Project has been recently completed and the group is now finalizing the public access components. MFGA is the project proponent and holder of the licence for stakeholders and land managers to access the model. According to Darren Chapman, MFGA Chair, the credit unions' support is an exclamation mark of endorsement on MFGA's recent efforts.

"We are working hard to ensure that the forages and grasslands our MFGA producers grow and steward are valued and showcased in all discussions around natural infrastructure and community resiliency," said Chapman. "The MFGA Aquanty model will show these values from a water movement perspective, allowing producers, land managers and planners an unprecedented decision-support tool to help communities with flood and drought planning."

Chapman said he expects the project to be available for public and stakeholder audiences July 2018.

​"The credit union support will help MFGA drive the decision-support ability even further ahead and hopefully, help accelerate the model discussion into the next phases of model development," he said.

Canadian credit union industry receives total of nine coveted Ipsos Best Banking Awards

TORONTO, ON (August 25, 2016):  The Canadian Credit Union Association (CCUA) is pleased to announce that, for the 12th consecutive year, Canadians have ranked credit unions first among all financial institutions, in overall Customer Service and Branch Service Excellence.

In the annual 2016 Ipsos® Best Banking Awards program, credit unions were also awarded sole honours for Values My Business and Live Agent Telephone Banking Excellence.

“In-branch, online or on their mobile device, credit unions strive to serve their members with the highest level of customer service, regardless of the channel,” explained Martha Durdin, president and CEO, Canadian Credit Union Association. “These awards are a recognition of the continued importance and value that credit union employees across the country put into every interaction with their members.”
Canada’s credit unions have received nine awards for two years in a row.

This year, credit unions were recognized in the following categories:

1. First for Customer Service Excellence (12th consecutive year);
2. First for Branch Service Excellence (12th consecutive year);
3. First for Values My Business (ninth consecutive year);
4. First for Live Agent Telephone Banking Excellence (first year individual winner; fourth year winner, tied for three previous years);
5. Winner (tied) for Mobile Banking Excellence (second time);
6. Winner (tied) for Financial Planning and Advice (ninth consecutive year);
7. Winner (tied) for ATM Banking Excellence (second consecutive year);
8. Winner (tied) for Online Banking Excellence (second consecutive year); and
9. Winner (tied) for Automated Telephone Banking Excellence; (fourth consecutive year [note: prior to 2013 there was a single Award for total Telephone Banking, which the credit union system shared each year from 2008 to 2012]).

“The credit union difference is all about service,” Durdin said. “Credit unions are grounded in the prosperity and quality of life of their members, and in pioneering innovative approaches to banking. The results of this survey show us that their approach to helping serve the financial needs of Canadians is working. Thank you to every member who continues to put their trust into their local credit union.”

​The Ipsos awards come on the heels of the results of a recent Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) survey that shows an overwhelming preference for service by credit unions among small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, where they enjoy 39.2 per cent market share.