Coast Capital Savings

Coast Capital Savings
Credit Union
Credit Union
Industry Financial services
Founded 2000
Headquarters Surrey, British Columbia, Canada
Key people
 Don Coulter – President and CEO
$62.0 million CAD (2014)[1]
Total assets $15.1 billion CAD (2014)[2]
Number of employees
 1,600 (2014)[3]
Website coastcapitalsavings.com

Coast Capital Savings is a credit union based in Surrey, British Columbia. It is Canada's largest credit union by membership, with assets under administration of $15.1 billion and 522,000 members.[2][4] Coast Capital Savings' subsidiary, Coast Capital Financial Management Ltd., offers life and disability insurance products including life, critical illness, disability and long-term care insurance, as well as segregated funds and annuities.

History

Coast Capital Savings was created out of a merger on December 31, 2000 between Pacific Coast Savings Credit Union and Richmond Savings Credit Union. Pacific Coast Savings was founded in 1940 and came from an earlier merger of First Pacific Credit Union and West Coast Savings. Richmond Savings was formed seven years later in 1947. In June 2002, Coast Capital Savings acquired Surrey Metro Savings, a credit union formed in 1947.[5]

Services

In 2005, Coast Capital Savings launched its "Free Chequing, Free Debit and More" account, one of the first financial institutions in Canada to offer a free chequing account.[6] Also in 2005, Coast Capital Savings launched a new design for its branches, called "Aperio", a more open, less formal banking experience centred on retail banking services.[7] In 2007, Coast Capital Savings launched its "One Small Fee, the Rest is Free" Business Account, the first retail financial institution in Canada to offer unlimited business banking for one set fee with no transaction fees (fees for deposits and withdrawals).[8] In 2008, Coast Capital changed its "Coast Maximum" Savings Account to the "High-Interest, No-Fee" Savings Account. This savings account is Canada's second high-interest savings account with no fees and unlimited access (ING Direct Canada was the first to offer such an account) but Coast Capital Savings offers a lower rate than competitors such as ING Direct or ICICI Bank. Coast Capital Savings currently offers VISA credit cards through Desjardins, a credit union in Quebec. Coast Capital also promotes volunteering with its staff.[9]

Awards

The credit union was named one of British Columbia’s Top 50 Employers in 2009 and was the 2008 recipient of the Canadian Co-operative Association's Innovations in Co-operative Governance Award. In 2011 and again in 2014 Coast Capital Savings was recognized as having one of Canada's Top 10 Most Admired Corporate Cultures.

Controversies

In April 2009, Coast Capital Savings agreed to reimburse credit union members who were charged overdraft fees. Coast Capital Savings agreed to the settlement to avoid further legal proceedings, but claim that the "agreement to settle is not an admission of liability or wrongdoing, but rather a way to speedily resolve the issue in everyone’s best interests."[10]

In July 2009, an employee at Coast Capital Savings inadvertently emailed a list of the insurance claims of 464 clients to about 75 Metro Vancouver media outlets. The email attachment included names, postal codes and the amounts of property insurance claims, but no social insurance numbers, addresses or account numbers. The B.C. Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner said it would look into the breach to see whether it warrants a full investigation.[11] No investigation was necessary, as the Privacy Commissioned deemed that Coast Capital's responsible, immediate and responsive actions to rectify the matter on behalf of its members was well managed and executed.

Membership

Coast Capital Savings is a member of Central 1 Credit Union and is registered with the Credit Union Deposit Insurance Corporation of BC.

External links

References

  1. ↑ "Coast Capital Savings has record year". Vancouver Sun. March 6, 2013.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Coast Capital achieves record net income and half million membership milestone" (Press release). Surrey, BC: Coast Capital Savings. March 5, 2013. Retrieved 2013-05-14.
  3. ↑ Coast Capital Savings 2012 Annual Report – About Us
  4. ↑ Credit Union Central of Canada (March 13, 2013). "Largest 100 Credit Unions Q4, Dec 31, 2012" (PDF). Retrieved May 14, 2013.
  5. ↑ Two big B.C. credit unions plan to merge. CBC News. March 5, 2002.
  6. ↑ 17, 2005/index.jsp "Coast Capital Savings Pioneers Free Chequing and Debit Account" (Press release). Coast Capital Savings. January 17, 2005. Retrieved May 14, 2013.
  7. ↑ 13, 2005/index.jsp "Coast Capital Savings Re-invents Banking With New 'No-Barrier' Aperio Store Concept" (Press release). Coast Capital Savings. June 13, 2005. Retrieved May 14, 2013.
  8. ↑ Coast Capital Savings Credit Union – The One Small Fee, the Rest is Free Business Account
  9. ↑ Coast Capital Offers Staff Paid Time to Volunteer for Favourite Charities. Marketwire. December 7, 2005.
  10. ↑ "Coast Capital Savings class action overdraft lawsuit settlement".
  11. ↑ "B.C. bank accidentally emails insurance claim list to media". CBC News. July 21, 2009.