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Alterna Savings and Credit Union Limited, commonly called Alterna Savings (french: Caisse Alterna), is a
credit union A credit union, a type of financial institution similar to a commercial bank, is a member-owned nonprofit organization, nonprofit financial cooperative. Credit unions generally provide services to members similar to retail banks, including depo ...
based in
Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...
,
Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
,
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
. In addition to its credit union
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in
Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
, it also operates across Canada through its
direct banking A direct bank (sometimes called a branch-less bank or virtual bank) is a bank that offers its services only via the Internet, email, and other electronic means, often including telephone, online chat, and mobile check deposit. A direct bank has no ...
subsidiary
Alterna Bank CS Alterna Bank (french: Banque CS Alterna), operating as Alterna Bank (french: Banque Alterna), is a Canadian direct bank and a wholly owned subsidiary of the Ontario-based credit union Alterna Savings. The bank offers chequing and high-interest ...
. Established as the Civil Service Savings and Loan Society, it was the first Canadian approach to
cooperative banking Cooperative banking is retail and commercial banking organized on a cooperative basis. Cooperative banking institutions take deposits and lend money in most parts of the world. Cooperative banking, as discussed here, includes retail banking carr ...
outside
Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
. Alterna Bank, launched in 2000, was one of Canada's first financial institutions to operate primarily through digital access. The parent organization adopted the Alterna name on merging with
Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
's Metro Credit Union in 2005. It is the second-largest credit union in Ontario, with C$10 billion in assets under management, over 217,000 members, and 41 branches.


History

Alterna's major growth event was the 1 April 2005 merger between CS CO-OP and Metro Credit Union. The combined assets were $1.8 billion and the merger was described as the "first of its size to be approved in Ontario history". After merging with Metro, the parent organization adopted the Alterna name. Eight years later, Alterna began absorbing smaller credit unions with seven transactions between 2013 and 2020.


Civil Service Savings and Loan Society

The Civil Service Savings and Loan Society launched in 1908 with the assistance of Alphonse Desjardins. It was the first credit union in Canada outside Quebec. Federal civil servants were prompted by an article in their magazine ''The Civilian'', when it reported on
loan shark A loan shark is a person who offers loans at extremely high interest rates, has strict terms of collection upon failure, and generally operates outside the law. Description Because loan sharks operate mostly illegally, they cannot reasonably ...
s charging civil servants up to 200% for
payday loan A payday loan (also called a payday advance, salary loan, payroll loan, small dollar loan, short term, or cash advance loan) is a short-term unsecured loan, often characterized by high interest rates. The term "payday" in payday loan refers to ...
s. After the
Government of Ontario The government of Ontario (french: Gouvernement de l'Ontario) is the body responsible for the administration of the Canadian province of Ontario. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown—represented in the province by the lieutenant governor†...
passed a credit union law in 1928, the Ottawa-based institution was re-chartered as the Civil Service Co-operative Credit Society, which later operated as CS CO-OP.


Metro Credit Union

Metro Credit Union was incorporated 30 August 1949 as the University of Toronto Employees' Credit Union. It became the University and Colleges Credit Union in 1975, which later operated as Unicoll. Over the years it absorbed a variety of smaller credit unions, primarily ones that served universities, colleges or hospitals. It became a community bond credit union, open to all residents of Toronto, in 1994. Gary H. Gillam, a leader of the credit union until his death in 1993, shaped Metro Credit Union's reputation as a pioneer in
socially responsible investing Socially responsible investing (SRI), social investment, sustainable socially conscious, "green" or ethical investing, is any investment strategy which seeks to consider both financial return and social/environmental good to bring about social ...
. Alterna continues to operate a
microcredit :''This article is specific to small loans, often provided in a pooled manner. For direct payments to individuals for specific projects, see Micropatronage. For financial services to the poor, see Microfinance. For small payments, see Micropayme ...
fund for disadvantaged Toronto entrepreneurs, and was one of the first financial institutions in Canada to perform regular
social audits Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not. Etymology The word "social" derives from ...
. CS CO-OP and Metro were active participants in the negotiations of 12 credit unions across the country for a national
co-operative bank Cooperative banking is retail and commercial banking organized on a cooperative basis. Cooperative banking institutions take deposits and lend money in most parts of the world. Cooperative banking, as discussed here, includes retail banking carr ...
in 1998. Though these negotiations were unsuccessful, they opened a door for CS CO-OP, under the leadership of Gary Seveny, to secure a bank charter for its subsidiary CS Loan Corporation, established as a
Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation The Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation (CDIC; french: Société d'assurance-dépôts du Canada) is a Canadian federal Crown Corporation created by Parliament in 1967 to provide deposit insurance to depositors in Canadian commercial banks and ...
member in 1992. The new bank was launched as CS Alterna Bank in October 2000 to offer service across Canada.


Expansion

*Ottawa Women's Credit Union (October 2013) - The Ottawa Women's Credit Union formed in 1980 to provide financial products, services and training based on the philosophy of women helping women to become financially autonomous. The credit union was founded by Lynne Markell, Aline Akeson and Dorothy O'Connell after they recognized that the best way to help low income women in the Ottawa area was with a member-owned financial co-operative managed by and for women. The members voted to merge with Alterna Savings to form its Centretown branch in October 2013. *Peterborough Community Savings (1 March 2016) *Nexus Community Savings (1 December 2016) *Toronto Municipal Employees' Credit Union (1 December 2018) - it remains a separate division operating as Toronto Municipal Employees' Savings (TME Savings). *City Savings & Credit Union Ltd. (1 May 2019) - Toronto-based City Savings & Credit Union Ltd. was previously called North York Municipal Employees Credit Union and had two branches and $43 million in assets at the time of the merger. *Quinte First Credit Union (1 June 2020) *Member Savings Credit Union Ltd (2020) - a merger with the $119m Member Services was announced in Oct 2020 and is targeted to close at the end of 2020. Alterna was one of the first financial institutions to make loans to businesses focusing on
cannabis in Canada Cannabis in Canada is legal for both recreational and medicinal purposes. Medicinal use of cannabis was legalized nationwide under conditions outlined in the Marihuana for Medical Purposes Regulations, later superseded by the Access to Cannabis ...
following its legalization, providing primary banking services for approximately two-thirds of the hundred licensed growers in 2018.


Memberships

*Central 1 Credit Union *
Interac Interac is a Canadian interbank network that links financial institutions and other enterprises for the purpose of exchanging electronic financial transactions. Interac serves as the Canadian debit card system and the predominant funds tra ...
* The Exchange *
Cirrus Network Mastercard Cirrus is a worldwide interbank network that provides cash to Mastercard cardholders. As a subsidiary of Mastercard Inc., it connects all Mastercard credit, debit and prepaid cards, as well as ATM cards issued by various banks worldw ...
*
Maestro (debit card) Mastercard Maestro is a brand of debit cards and prepaid cards owned by Mastercard that was introduced in 1991. Maestro is accepted at around fifteen million point of sale outlets in 93 countries. Starting July 1, 2023, Mastercard will phase ...
*
Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario The Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA; french: Autorité ontarienne de réglementation des services financiers) is a self-funding Crown agency which acts as the financial regulator for the province of Ontario, Canada. Est ...
(deposit insurance) *
Co-op Network CU Cooperative Systems, Inc. doing business as Co-op Solutions (formerly d.b.a. CO-OP Financial Services), is a company that operates an interbank network connecting the ATMs of credit unions in the United States, with locations also in Canada ...


References

;Notes ;Bibliography *Ron Kenyon, ''To the Credit of the People'', The Ontario Credit Union League Ltd., 1976. *Branch listing: https://www.alterna.ca/ToolsAndCalculators/FindBranchATM/?branch=show *Alterna's consolidated financial statements: https://www.alterna.ca/AboutUs/Governance/CorporateReports/


External links


Official websiteSite of subsidiary Alterna Bank
{{Authority control Banks established in 1908 1908 establishments in Ontario Companies based in Ottawa Credit unions of Ontario Canadian companies established in 1908