Vancouver City Savings Credit Union, commonly referred to as Vancity, is a member-owned financial

co-operative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-control ...

headquartered in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. Th ...

, British Columbia, Canada. By asset size, Vancity is the largest community

credit union A credit union, a type of financial institution similar to a commercial bank, is a member-owned nonprofit financial cooperative. Credit unions generally provide services to members similar to retail banks, including deposit accounts, provision ...

in Canada , with in assets plus assets under administration, 60 branches and more than 543,000 members.

History

Vancity began operations in 1946 as an open-bond credit union in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Initially a financial co-operative consisting of 14 Vancouver residents, Vancity has grown to serve British Columbia's Lower Mainland and the Victoria region of

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are of land. The island is the largest by ...

. On September 28, 1946, 14 Vancouver residents signed a charter to establish an open-bond credit union that would be open to any resident of the city, regardless of social affiliation. On October 11, 1946, Vancouver City Savings Credit Union opened to the public. By the end of 1946, total assets were $2,966. Vancity first operated out of a former machine shop on the corner of Broadway and Quebec streets in Vancouver. By the end of 1951, membership had reached 2,000. Assets grew rapidly after the introduction of personal chequing accounts in the same year, reaching $5million in 1962, $10million in 1965, $100million in 1973, and $1billion by 1980. , current assets are $22.9billion.

Milestones

Vancity has a history of innovation in the North American financial services market: * 1946: the first financial institution to provide mortgages for properties in Vancouver's working class east end.Hardin, Hershel (1996). ''Working Dollars.'' Douglas & MacIntyre, Vancouver. * 1959: the first financial institution in Canada to offer open mortgages. * 1961: the first financial institution in British Columbia to provide mortgages to women without a male co-signer. * 1967: the first financial institution in Canada to offer a daily interest savings account, calculating interest earnings on a daily basis. * 1980: the first financial institution in Canada to offer an all-in-one banking statement. * 1986: offers Canada's first socially responsible mutual fund, the Ethical Growth Fund. * 1988: the first financial institution in Canada to offer a Registered Education Savings Plan. * 1991: the first credit union in Canada to acquire a trust company, Citizens Trust Company. * 1997: the first financial institution in Canada to establish a branchless bank, Citizens Bank of Canada. * 2002: the first financial institution in Canada to market to the gay and lesbian community through mainstream advertising. *2008: the first financial institution in North America to become carbon neutral. *2010: the first financial institution in Canada to join th
Global Alliance for Banking on Values
*2011: the largest organization in Canada (at the time) to adopt a Living Wage policy. *2014: one of the first mainstream financial institutions to launch an alternative to payday loans for its members, the Vancity Fair & Fast Loan™. * 2017: Citizens Bank of Canada renamed Vancity Community Investment Bank (VCIB). * 2019: VCIB acquired CoPower, a sustainable investment platform that issues green bonds and funds loans for clean energy and energy efficiency projects. * 2022: Vancity becomes the first Canadian financial institution to set real estate emissions reduction targets.

List of directors

* Robert Arthur Williams (1983–1995, 2007–2016)

Services

Vancity's primary lines of business include

retail Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholesaler, and th ...

and business banking (deposit-taking and lending) and

mortgage lending A mortgage loan or simply mortgage (), in civil law jurisdicions known also as a hypothec loan, is a loan used either by purchasers of real property to raise funds to buy real estate, or by existing property owners to raise funds for any p ...

. Through wholly owned subsidiaries, Vancity also operates

foreign exchange The foreign exchange market (Forex, FX, or currency market) is a global decentralized or over-the-counter (OTC) market for the trading of currencies. This market determines foreign exchange rates for every currency. It includes all aspec ...

life insurance Life insurance (or life assurance, especially in the Commonwealth of Nations) is a contract between an insurance policy holder and an insurer or assurer, where the insurer promises to pay a designated beneficiary a sum of money upon the death ...

, Visa

credit cards A credit card is a payment card issued to users (cardholders) to enable the cardholder to pay a merchant for goods and services based on the cardholder's accrued debt (i.e., promise to the card issuer to pay them for the amounts plus the o ...

real estate development Real estate development, or property development, is a business process, encompassing activities that range from the renovation and re-lease of existing buildings to the purchase of raw land and the sale of developed land or parcels to others. R ...

, and

investment advisor A financial adviser or financial advisor is a professional who provides financial services to clients based on their financial situation. In many countries, financial advisors must complete specific training and be registered with a regulatory ...

y services

Membership

Vancity is a member of Central 1 Credit Union and is registered with the Credit Union Deposit Insurance Corporation of British Columbia. In December 2010, Vancity joined the Global Alliance for Banking on Values (GABV).

References

External links

* {{Authority control Financial services companies established in 1946 1946 establishments in British Columbia Credit unions of British Columbia Global Alliance for Banking on Values Companies based in Vancouver