Hamilton Community CU Blog

A Free Guide to No-Fee Banking

2010-09-28T13:03:00.003-04:00

Recently the Toronto Star published an article entitled A Free Guide to No-Fee Banking in which they compared the services offered from both ING Direct and PC Financial. Considering we’ve been in the business of offering no-fee banking for 70 years we thought we should measure ourselves up to their ratings. Let’s see how the competition holds up.

Roseman: A free guide to no-fee banking
Published On Tue Sep 21 2010
By Ellen Roseman Personal Finance Columnist

Do you have an account with a big bank? Do you pay fees?

Maybe it’s time to switch. President’s Choice Financial and ING Direct are both running ad campaigns about the joys of no-fee banking.

So, let’s compare the two challengers and what they have to offer.

President’s Choice Financial – or PCF for short – is owned by Loblaw Cos. Launched 12 years ago, it’s in every province but Quebec and has more than one million customers with no-fee bank accounts.

ING Direct, owned by a big Dutch bank that came here in 1997, is known for high-interest savings and low-interest loans. It’s launching a no-fee daily chequing account, called Thrive, early next year – but 12,000 people are already trying it out.

Q: How much money can you save with no-fee banking?

A: PCF says up to $200 a year. ING says $185 a year.

The savings that can be obtained through an HCCU account all depends on the amount of services that an individual chooses to use. Without knowing how either PCF or ING are calculating their results we are unable to compare to their claims, but we would be happy to sit down and look at a member’s personal situation and show them how much they would be able to save.

Q: How many automated bank machines can you use without paying fees?

A: PCF offers free access to 3,800 ABMs. This includes its own machines and those operated by CIBC, its online banking partner.
ING offers free access to 2,500 ABMs in the Exchange network, usually located near credit unions (the bulk of the network’s members).

HCCU also offers free access to the 2,500 ABM’s on the Exchange network as well as the 2 ABM’s located in our branches.

Q: Do you pay to order cheques?

A: PCF doesn’t charge for cheques. ING gives you 20 free cheques and charges $10 for each 20 cheques you order after that (or 50 cents apiece). Both offer free cheque clearing services.
ING offers free unlimited email money transfers as an option to using cheques. PCF charges $1.50 for each email money transfer.

HCCU offers unlimited free personal cheques

Q: Do you pay for monthly statements sent by mail?

A: PCF offers free online access, but charges $1 for each monthly statement sent by mail. ING has free online access and won’t send monthly statements by mail for no-fee chequing – no matter what you pay.

HCCU offers free online access as well as free monthly statements

Q: Do you earn interest on your no-fee account?

A: PCF pays a five-tiered interest rate, starting at 0.05 per cent on the first $1,000, going up to 0.25 per cent on the part of the balance between $10,000 and $25,000 and to 0.5 per cent on the balance over $25,000.
ING has a three-tiered interest rate, starting at 0.25 cent on the first $50,000, going up to 1 per cent on the part of the balance from $50,000 to $100,000 and to 1.1 per cent on the balance over $100,000.

HCCU is currently paying 1.25% on our free Self Serve Savings account on every dollar you deposit. And this money can be accessed immediately at any time using telephone or online banking.

Q: Do you pay for overdraft protection?

A: PCF has a $4.97 minimum charge that applies in each month that overdraft protection is used. There’s also a fixed rate of 19 per cent a year on overdraft balances.
ING has a feature called Whoops Protection that covers overdrafts up to $250. You pay no fees or interest, as long as you put the money back into your account within 30 days.

HCCU offers Line of Credit Overdraft protection to a maximum of $10,000.00 at 8.49% interest calculated on the minimum daily balance.

Q: Can you talk to a real person face to face?

A: PCF has people in its pavilions near many grocery stores, including Fortinos, Zehrs and Real Canadian Superstore. An online store locator gave me 50 places to visit in a 60-kilometre radius from downtown Toronto.
ING has one Toronto café where you can talk to a real person. It’s at 111 Gordon Baker Rd., near Highway 404 and Finch Ave. E. A second café is planned for downtown (across from the Eaton Centre) next year.

At HCCU you can always talk to a person face to face. We have two branches serving the Hamilton area with extended hours to meet your schedule.

I’ll give each contender a closing argument.

Barry Columb, president of President’s Choice Financial: “We cater to all your banking needs, including index mutual funds with our partner CIBC. We also have a loyalty program that lets you earn PC points on transactions and redeem them for free groceries in our stores.”

Brenda Rideout, chief marketing officer, ING Direct: “We’re giving Canadians the features they want to use, including access to mobile banking. People love the email money transfers and email alerts. They’re telling us it’s about time we offered a no-fee chequing account.”

Malcolm Stoffman, CEO of Hamilton Community Credit Union: “At HCCU we’ve been offering no fee accounts for over 70 years. This is not a new concept to us. Being a full service financial institution means offering all the conveniences like Internet and telephone banking, surcharge free ATMs and high interest savings accounts, but being a Credit Union means offering fair pricing to everyone who walks through our front door.

Student Loan and LOC Contest Winners

2010-09-21T11:45:00.001-04:00

Congratulations go out to all of the winners of our 2010 Student Loan and LOC contest. Below are the results:

1st Prize – iPod Touch – Sara Giglia

2nd Prize – iPod Nano – Ian Caldwell

3rd Prize – iPod Nano – Yvonne Fordham

Look for future contest coming up from HCCU

A Neu Hope

2010-09-10T15:21:00.007-04:00

Debbie Foley, one of your friendly staff members of HCCU, has been volunteering her time with a local organization that will be hosting a fundraiser on Saturday October 23rd. Below is a letter from Debbie concerning the event and donations:

“A NEU HOPE”

Dear Community Friends:

Friends and family are joining together to organize a fundraiser for a 20 year old Hamilton man named Billy Neu. Billy, a 4th year engineering student at Western University, suffered a life altering swimming pool accident on Friday, June 4th. As a result of a spinal cord injury, Billy has been left a paraplegic and will never walk again.

To ease the financial impact his family is now faced with, we are holding a dinner, dance and silent auction at the Ancaster Rotary Centre (Morgan Firestone Arena) located at 385 Jerseyville Road West in Ancaster on Saturday, October 23rd, 2010, at 7:00 p.m. for an anticipated 850 attendees.
Our committed group of volunteers are firm and dedicated in the belief that the family needs the support of everyone to make the transition easier to bring Billy home.

All proceeds raised from this fundraiser will go toward the costs of renovating the family home and vehicle, so they are wheelchair accessible for Billy. The parents, who have both devoted their lives to raise four wonderful boys, have had some financial setbacks in the past couple of years. Billy’s father was laid off after 30 years of service with his company, and without the benefit of a pension.
In order to reach our goal and raise the funds necessary to help Billy and his family, we are turning to community minded individuals and organizations for their support. We are hoping you will be able to provide a silent auction item or monetary donation to our cause.

Arrangements can be made for donations to be picked up by calling me or by faxing the attached sheet back to 905-546-3830. If you have any questions or wish to purchase tickets, please feel free to contact me at 905-388-3478

Thank you for your consideration and your anticipated generosity.

Very Sincerely,

Debbie Foley
Committee Member

Heart and Stroke Big Bike Update

2010-08-25T11:09:00.002-04:00

As you may remember, HCCU staff along with staff from Hamilton Municipal Employees Credit Union (HMECU) participated in the Big Bike for Heart and Stroke back in May. The evening was a great success raising funds for the Heart and Stroke.

The Big Bike season has now come to an end and we recently received notice from the Heart and Stoke outlining some of the successes from this year’s campaign including some highlights that we are personally proud of.

HELLO CAPTAINS!

This is the final Big Bike e-mail of the SEASON! We want to thank EACH and EVERY ONE of you for making this BIG BIKE experience special and a lot of fun. We hope that everyone had a great time and are very proud to have had such a great year!

This could not have been done without the tireless work that each and every organization has put into forming a team, encouraging them to fundraise and putting their hearts into it! It takes very special people to accomplish this task and we have had the privilege of working with some very wonderful individuals in the Hamilton, Ancaster, Dundas, Waterdown & Stoney Creek areas.

Thank you for everything! Now, without further ado - here is the final update of the season

2010 Big Bike Total:

$140 220!!!! (PLUS MORE TO COME!!)

Top 3 Fundraising Teams

1. HMECU & HCCU

Top 10 Fundraisers

4. JENN VANDEHAAR – HCCU

Thank you once again for such a great season and joining us to:

www.heartandstroke.ca

Canada Day BBQ

2010-06-16T10:34:00.003-04:00

On Wednesday June 30th HCCU will be having a BBQ at both of our branches to celebrate Canada Day.

Bring the family in for a hotdog, pop, and maybe some dessert.

All of the funds raised will be donated to the Cancer Assistance Program. Hope to see you there!

Savings through CUMIS Insurance

2010-06-09T10:25:00.002-04:00

Most of you are aware of the savings that can be earned through an account with HCCU. You might use one of our no to low fee chequing or savings account, or maybe you’re using our Debit One plan and saving on Interac Fees. Or maybe you’re saving money with a low interest rate on a Consolidation Loan, or a great rate on a mortgage, but many of you may not be aware of the savings that can be earned by using some of our business partners.

By being a member of HCCU you can take advantage of a discounted rate on Home and Auto insurance through CUMIS.

Recently Jenn Vandehaar, HCCU Manager of Operations, had her insurance up for renewal and gave CUMIS a call to see if the rates were any better.

“I had insurance on my house and our two family vehicles and after switching to CUMIS, I saved a combined total of $950.17 a year.”

Now that’s some incredible savings.

If you’d like to get a quote from CUMIS insurance click here and follow the instructions on their webpage. Be sure to let them know you’re a member of Hamilton Community Credit Union to take advantage of their great rates.

If you’d like to share some of your stories of savings we’d love to hear from you. Please comment below or send off an email to jmoat@hccu.on.ca

HCCU on the Big Bike Update

2010-05-28T15:25:00.003-04:00

Last night HCCU staff along with staff from Hamilton Municipal Employees Credit Union (HMECU) participated in the Big Bike for Heart and Stroke.

The evening was a great success and we are extremely proud that HCCU raised over $4000, and together with HMECU, were able to donate just over $8500 to this great cause!

Below are some pictures from this fantastic event.

HCCU on the Big Bike

2010-05-14T11:33:00.005-04:00

Later this month, HCCU will be participating in the Big Bike for Heart & Stroke and we are looking for your support!

Last year, the Heart & Stroke raised over $7 million as a result of the big bike ride, with all funds going to heart & stroke research.

Our ride is taking place May 27th at 6pm, departing from Slainte. If you wish to make a donation, please Click Here or visit either of our branches.

Thank you for helping make a difference in the lives of thousands of Canadians, and for helping us reach our goal of $1000.00!

We hope to see you there!

Spring Raffle Winners

2010-04-22T12:36:00.002-04:00

Our Spring Raffle has come to a close and we would like to take the time to congratulate the following winners:

King St Branch
BBQ – Robert Reid
Home depot Gift Card – Al Gallant
Tim’s Card – Harvey Smith
Tim’s Card – Jose Gomez
Tim’s Card – William Guigue

Mohawk Branch
BBQ – Jack Lambie
Home depot Gift Card – John Scott
Tim’s Card – Monique Vaughan
Tim’s Card – William Carter
Tim’s Card – Kimberly Czajkowsky

With all of your help HCCU was able to raise over $1000.00 for the Cancer Assistance Program.

Update - Haiti Relief Effort through CanHelp & The Canadian Red Cross

2010-04-19T08:55:00.003-04:00

Below is an excerpt from OCUCF Newsletter dated April 16th 2010

Thanks to so many generous credit unions and their members, the Foundation was able to raise over $75,000 towards the Haiti Earthquake Relief effort through the Canadian Red Cross. Much of this amount was eligible for the matching program through the Federal Government.

Hamilton Community Credit Union was able to donate $1,000.00 to help towards this important cause.

Interest Rates on the Rise.

2010-04-14T14:39:00.000-04:00

The article below was published last week in the Financial Post regarding the recent hike of mortgage interest rates.

Bank of Montreal completes the count: All Big Five banks raise five-year rates

With a late-day announcement yesterday, Bank of Montreal became the fifth of Canada's Big Five banks to raise its mortgage rates this week. BMO hiked its five-year fixed-rate closed-term mortgage by 60 basis points to 5.85%, matching increases announced earlier in the day by Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Bank of Nova Scotia, National Bank and Desjardins Group. Royal Bank of Canada, Toronto-Dominion Bank and Laurentian Bank announced on Monday that their benchmark five-year rates would increase to 5.85%. "The era of historically low mortgage rates is coming to an end," said Sal Guatieri, senior economist, BMO Capital Markets.

I beg to differ Sal. At Hamilton Community Credit Union our Five Year Closed mortgage rate is at 4.15%, still near our historic lows. That’s a difference of 1.70% from the big 5 banks.

Better yet HCCU is currently offering a promotion on our mortgages. Yes it gets better.

If you apply for a mortgage before June 1st you can take advantage of our introductory interest rate of 1% for the first four months of your 5 year term. After the four months the interest rate will adjust to whatever our 5 year rate is at that time, currently at 4.15%, to a maximum of 4.50%.

Apparently the era of historically low mortgage rates is still alive at HCCU.

The Ins and Outs of your Credit Score - Part II

2010-03-30T11:08:00.001-04:00

To many people a credit score is a magical number derived by the powers that be, a number so important as it can decide your borrowing fate. However, most people have no idea how this number is equated. Obviously paying your bills on time is key, but what else determines a good score from a bad score.

In Part I we looked at how a Credit Score is composed and what affects the score. Today we’ll look at exactly what actions will hurt a score and how you can improve your score.

Please note that Hamilton Community Credit Union may use credit scores in conjunction with many other factors to establish an approval on loans or mortgages including your Credit Bureau. We feel that knowing how credit scores are derived is important to you for now and for your future.

What actions will hurt the score?

Missing payments. Regardless of the dollar amounts, It will take 24 mo to restore your credit score after one late payment

Credit cards at capacity (i.e., maxing out credit cards)

Closing credit cards out. Many people believe they should close cards they are not using however this lowers your available credit capacity, which in turns lowers your score.

Shopping for credit excessively. If you are constantly applying for different types of credit it will lower your score.

Opening up numerous credit accounts in a short period of time.

Having more revolving loans in relation to installment loans. Revolving loans are Credit Cards or Lines of Credit as apposed to Installment loans such as a loan for a vehicle.

Borrowing from finance companies

How to improve the score?

Pay down on credit cards
Do not close credit cards because capacity will decrease
Continue to make payments on time as older late pays will become less significant with time
Slow down on opening new accounts
Acquire a solid credit history with years of experienc

We hope these two posts on Credit Scores have been helpful. If you have any other questions regarding Personal Credit and Credit Scores contact either branch and speak with a Member Relationship Officer today.

The Ins and Outs of Your Credit Score

2010-03-01T15:48:00.002-05:00

35% of your score is based on payment history, if you’re on time or delinquent
More of that is weighted on current pay history than past performance
30% is based on you credit capacity. This means how much credit do you have available to you. If you have a Credit Card with a $10,000 limit and owe only $1,000 that gives you a high credit capacity.
15% is based on the amount of time you’ve had each debt or credit card
10% is based on how much debt you’ve accumulated in the last 12-18 months
10% is based on a mix of the types of credit you have. Installment loans are rated better than revolving credit cards
Finally, the number of finance company loans, the lower your score

Your score is also based on the number of inquiries you make. Your score will go down if you are constantly searching for credit. However, if for instance you are looking for a mortgage and apply at 5 different places within a couple weeks these would be grouped together and would be scored as only one inquiry.

As mentioned above your score is more heavily weighted on your most recent activity. The following is a break down of the weight of each year of your credit history.

40% is based on your last 12 months
30% is based on your last 13 – 24 months
20% is based on your last 25 – 36 months
10% is based on your last 37+ months

What doesn’t affect the score?

There are certain items that people thing should affect your score, but don’t.

Debt ratio – the amount you make compared to the amount you pay out for monthly expenses does not affect your score
The amount of income you make does not affect your score
The length of time you’ve resided at your current address does not affect your score
The length of time at your current place of employment does not affect your score

In the next post we’ll discuss what actions can hurt your score as well as what you can do to improve your score.

If you have any other questions regarding this topic please do not hesitate to comment below.

Please note that these are basic guidelines that make up your credit scores. Scores are calculated differently by different score providers. This article is for information purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. Please talk to a Member Relationship Officer at HCCU to address any of your specific questions or concerns.

Federal Government Announces Changes to Mortgage Insurance

2010-02-17T11:28:00.003-05:00

Hamilton Community Credit Union has just received this News Brief from Central 1

The federal government announced today three changes to the underwriting
criteria for its mortgage insurance. The move is intended to pre-empt potential
problems in the mortgage and housing markets by reducing the availability of
mortgage credit.

The changes to the rules for government-backed insured mortgages:

Require that a borrower qualify at a five-year fixed mortgage rate even if
he/she chooses a mortgage with a lower interest rate and shorter term.
Currently, borrowers qualify at a three-year term;

Lower the maximum amount homeowners can withdraw in refinancing
their mortgages to 90% from 95% of the value of their homes; and

Increase the minimum down payment to 20% from 5% on non-owneroccupied
properties purchased for speculation.

These adjustments to mortgage insurance come into force on April 19, 2010, with
exceptions allowed after April 19 where necessary to satisfy a binding purchase
and sale, financing, or refinancing agreement entered into before April 19, 2010.
These changes will have a minor negative impact on housing sales activity since
some potential borrowers will not be able to qualify at the five-year rate versus
the three-year rate. The main intent of this change is to limit future mortgagereset
problems when interest rates rise.

The Hamilton Spectator also had this article regarding the changes.

For more information regarding these changes or to obtain clarification on any outstanding questions please contact a Member Service Representative at either of our branches.

HCCU 71st AGM

2010-01-21T14:25:00.006-05:00

Tuesday March 9th 2010

Michelangelo's banquet Centre

Beginning at 7:00pm

Credit Union Central to Help Earthquake Survivors

2010-01-20T11:17:00.001-05:00

In response to the tragic events that have unfolded in Haiti, Credit Union Central has issued a release with regards to how Credit Unions can assist members in donating to this much needed cause.

Credit unions across the country are mobilizing efforts to provide aid to victims of Tuesday's earthquake in Haiti.

"The credit union difference is defined by our belief in the co-operative principle of 'people helping people.' Our actions reflect this belief. As such, credit unions are urged to donate in response to this disaster and to consider reaching out to their members and facilitate the collection of member donations to help the people of Haiti survive this crisis."

Ontario credit unions can help members who want to donate by using the Ontario Credit Union Charitable Foundation's CanHelp program.

All individual donations may qualify for the federal government's $50 million matching program. The funds collected through the CanHelp program will be aggregated by the Foundation and then remitted to the Canadian Red Cross.

The Red Cross is also accepting corporate and individual donations here.

To insure your donations are put to their intended use in the fastest way possible, Hamilton Community Credit Union is directing all individual donations to the above mentioned charitable foundations.

For more information on how you can donate please contact Jordan Moat at jmoat@hccu.on.ca or by phone at 905-383-3395 x 104

Participation Rebate

2010-01-04T10:37:00.002-05:00

On December 31st Hamilton Community Credit Union once again paid a Participation Rebate to our members who either earned or paid interest throughout 2009. For over 20 years now, HCCU has been sharing its profits with members in the form of a Participation Rebate.

The following is a message from our CEO Malcolm Stoffman regarding the 2009 Participation Rebate:

We have just gone through the year end process and as expected the Participation Rebate fell within the approved range of 3-4% range. In fact, HCCU paid a participation rebate of 4% with the full amount going to the member’s savings account.

While this amount is less than we have paid over the past several years it is still a very healthy return in comparison to what most other Credit Unions (and all banks) pay, and shows our commitment to this valuable benefit of membership even in challenging economic times. The total amount returned to members as a dollar value is $133,303.74.

Thanks to the staff and directors of HCCU for making this year a success through what will certainly be regarded as one of the most difficult years our local, national and international economies have seen in a very long time.

Hope you all have great New Years and a happy and healthy 2010.

Malcolm

If you have any questions regarding the Participation Rebate please contact either of our branches.

Upcoming Holiday Hours

2009-12-15T09:14:00.002-05:00

Christmas

Thursday December 24th - Closing at 1:00

Friday December 25th - Closed

Saturday December 26th - Closed

Monday December 28th - Closed

New Years

Thursday December 31st - Closing at 1:00

Friday January 1st - Closed

NYLC Contest Winner

2009-12-03T14:24:00.002-05:00

HCCU is thrilled to announce Jordan Moat’s recent win in the National Young Leader’s “Be the Voice” competition.

In early March the National Young Leaders Committee (NYLC), a Committee of Credit Union Central of Canada (Credit Union Central of Canada is the national voice and trade association for the Canadian Credit Union System) charged with developing young leaders within the Credit Union system, began a competition known as the “Be the Voice” NYLC contest. Young leaders were asked to submit their BIG IDEA that may be a successful strategy for the credit union system. The committee would pick five finalists out of the submissions, which would then be voted on by Young Leaders from across the Credit Union system.

The voting wrapped up last week and it was announced that Hamilton Community Credit Unions very own Jordan Moat emerged as the winner. In addition to the prestige of being the winning submission Jordan will receive a complimentary conference registration to the 2010 Canadian Conference for CU Executives to be held in May in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and $1,500 towards travel and accommodations to the conference.

Below is the winning submission.

Young Leaders “Be the Voice” NYLC Contest
Jordan Moat
Business Development Manager
Hamilton Community Credit Union

Set Ourselves Apart by Marketing Together

The single largest challenge faced by the credit union system in respect to marketing to a younger generation is purely getting the knowledge of what a Credit Union is in to the minds of our target market. This is especially true in the Ontario market, where the big banks rule supreme and accounts are opened by the youth with disregard for any research in to the matter.

With most credit unions possessing a limited marketing budget, simply broadcasting a message of Credit Union brand awareness will not seem cost effective. Rather individual products are pushed or particular promotions are offered. Most Credit Unions usually see other Credit Unions as their biggest competition. It is up to the entire Credit Union system to advertise their existence to begin to change the consumer’s beliefs or lack there of. This can be accomplished by outlining exactly what a credit union is, its similarity to a bank or other financial institutions, and mainly how exactly we differ with a focus on the competitive advantage to dealing with a credit union.

Here is where that advantage lies.....

The youth are jaded towards big business and their normal means of advertising and credit unions can capitalize on this through a concise message using alternative media and the local “feel good” community spirit we already possess.

With such a strong focus in today’s markets on environmentally friendly, organic and local or “green” initiatives it is my big idea that Credit Unions should position themselves as the green alternative to personal finance.

It is in this message that we can create the basis of affinity to a credit union that people would collectively identify with and want to publicize. If people think that using a Credit Union is some kind of esoteric knowledge, they'll tell their friends.

How does this work?

• It feels good to tell someone something they don't know. Being a member of a credit union gets to be someone's social currency.

• The savvy youth consumers are looking for deals - let them think that the Credit Union is their little secret and they'll share it with their friends.

• Capture what you want people to identify with in the group message.

"I don't pay bank fees...I'm a member of a Credit Union."
“I don’t drive a Hummer...I don’t belong to a bank”
“Home Grown in your Community...Your local Credit Union”
“Millions in overhead saved...Millions in rebates given”

• A delivery method through social media, youth targeted events and alternative mediums appear less like a marketing campaign and more like an awareness movement.

It is with this initiative that Credit Unions can be recognized as the smart alternative choice for banking.

Member Appreciation Day Winners

2009-12-02T12:55:00.000-05:00

HCCU would like to congratulate all of the following winners of our Member Appreciation Day Raffle:
1st Prize - $200 Gift Card to Limeridge Mall – Kelly Deluca, Anne O’Breza

2nd Prize - $50 Gift Card to Limeridge Mall – Janice Barker, Irene Kluwak

3rd Prize – Handmade Crocheted Blanket – Samir Dakran, Bert Minchin

We thank all of you who contributed to our raffle. All of the money raised will be donated to Hamilton Food Share.

And a reminder to those who couldn’t make it in on Member Appreciation Day, there are still some calendars left at the branches. If you’d like a wall calendar or pocket planner be sure to stop in and see us before they’re all gone.

Readers' Choice Awards

2009-11-02T09:57:00.002-05:00

HCCU is honored with being nominated and winning the Gold Award in The Hamilton Spectators Readers’ Choice Awards for 2009.

HCCU was nominated by our members and voted on by the readership of the Hamilton Spectator in the Favourite Bank/Credit Union/Trust Company category. This would be the third consecutive year that we have received a Readers’ Choice award.

Seeing that this award is decided on by the citizens of Hamilton it is a true testament to our exceptional service levels and a credit to all of our staff that HCCU stands out amongst the competition in the Hamilton area. Given our size it really shows that you, our membership, recognizes the effort we put forth and we thank you for that.

It is with this award that we will strive to continue with this trend in 2010!

Member Appreciation Day

2009-10-29T19:21:00.002-04:00

Friday November 27th marks Member Appreciation Day. A day where we celebrate You our members. HCCU will be continuing with the tradition of providing coffee and treats as well as handing out Wall Calendars and Daytime Planners for the following year. In addition to this HCCU will be having a raffle with the money being added to the funds raised on Credit Union Day donated to Food Share.

Each branch will have a grand prize of a $200 gift certificate to any Cadillac Fairview Mall (the nearest being Limeridge Mall) with a second prize of a $50 gift certificate.

So get in to either branch (or both) and get your tickets today and be sure to visit us on the 27th for your 2010 calendars.

Phishing Scam

2009-10-16T15:30:00.003-04:00

HCCU has recently been made aware of the re-circulation of a malicious phishing scam fashioned to gain access to an individual’s personal finances, and this time it is being addressed to Credit Union members. The following is a sample of the phishing e-mail:

Dear Customer,

Your Credit Union's On Line Banking has expired.

You must re-activate your account before : 16/10/2009 if you want to continue using online services.You can activate your account by clicking on the link below :

http://safran-arts.com/links/site/credit.union/OnlineBanking/

If you encounter difficulties using online banking, please call your branch during regular business hours for assistance.

NOTE: THIS IS A SCAM !

Hamilton Community Credit Union would never request you to verify your account’s existence, or to reactivate by entering your personal account information online, nor should you provide anyone with this information.

Please remember that it is very common for these email scams to be redistributed at a later date with only slightly different content, such as a different subject or return address, or with the fake webpage(s) hosted on a different webserver.

If you have any questions please contact your local branch.

Happy Credit Union Day

2009-10-15T12:35:00.002-04:00

International Credit Union Day has been celebrated by the World Council of Credit Unions on the third Thursday of October, since 1948. The day is set aside to reflect upon the history of the credit union movement and to promote the achievements.

Tis the Season

2009-10-02T14:29:00.004-04:00

There’s 85 days until Christmas, but it’s never too early to start thinking about your finances.

Yes, I’m aware that it is bad form to discuss Christmas before Thanksgiving has come and gone. The thought of stores in the mall playing carols from October to January makes everyone cringe. Not to mention the television commercials. That annoying representation of Scrooge pawning of paper towels that gets old after the first viewing yet you know you will see it every commercial break. But I come with something everyone can enjoy. Think of it as an early present.

Once again HCCU is bringing back our Santa’s Helper Loans.

That’s $2000.00 Interest free and with no payments required until March 1st 2010, at which point our variable loan interest rate applies.

For complete details click here, or visit one of our branches to speak with a loan officer.

Have You Seen Our Ads?

2009-08-24T09:22:00.002-04:00

With back to school being just around the corner HCCU has launched a city wide campaign for Student Loans and Lines of Credit. Whether you or someone you know is heading to University, Community College, Trade school, Career College, or Apprenticeship, HCCU is here to assist in your financial needs with an extremely low rate of HCCU Prime while in school and only HCCU Prime + 2 upon completion. Contact either branch today to find out how you could qualify for a Student Loan or Line of Credit.

And in other news.........

Credit Unions Rank First in Customer Service

“For the fifth year in a row, an independent survey of thousands of Canadians has shown that credit unions rank first in overall quality of customer service among all financial institutions.

"We are pleased to see that Canadians continue to rate their at credit unions experience very highly," said David Phillips, president and CEO of Credit Union Central of Canada (Canadian Central).

"Credit unions have more than five million members across the country and do an excellent job of providing the service people want," Phillips said. "This is our core mission, meeting the needs of our members."

Global market research firm Synovate announced its 2009 Best Banking Awards, which are derived from its Customer Service Index. It found credit unions ranked ahead of all banks and other financial institutions in the following categories:

• Overall Customer Service Excellence
• Values My Business
• Branch Service Excellence

Credit unions also tied for first in the following categories:

• Financial Planning and Advice
• Recommend to Friends and Family
• Telephone Banking Excellence

Adrian Murphy, Vice President of Syndicated Research for Synovate in Canada, commented:
"The key to loyal customers is a good customer experience. The Synovate Best Banking Award
acts like a report card for our local financial institutions, highlighting their strengths and
weaknesses as well as how the industry players are performing overall."

The Synovate Customer Service Index survey had almost 39,000 responses among a regionally and demographically representative sample of Canadians. The survey has been conducted” annually since 1987. The 2009 Best Banking Awards are based on the combined results of ongoing quarterly Customer Service Index surveys ended August 2009. "

Financing Your Future

2009-08-04T10:36:00.004-04:00

Hamilton Community Credit Union would like to cordially invite you to our Financing Your Future Seminar – an informative tutorial directed at helping a younger generation fiscally prepare.

Date: Tuesday August 11th 2009 – Beginning at 7:00pm

Place: The Ukraine Catholic Church of the
Resurrection Parish Hall
821 Upper Wentworth Street
Hamilton, ON L9A 4W5

Throughout our time we will touch on such subjects as:

Student Loans and Lines of Credit
RESP’s
CMHC and First Time Home Buyers
Saving for a Down Payment

In addition to this information we will also be holding a draw for all those that attend with the chance to win $100 gift certificate to Staples.

Please RSVP if you can attend. I hope to see you there.

Sincerely,

Jordan Moat
Business Development Manager

Phone:905-383-3395 x 104
Email: jmoat@hccu.on.ca

O Canada!

2009-07-02T14:08:00.001-04:00

As you can see our Canada Day Celebration was a great success. Thanks to everyone who came by and helped raise funds for the LMFRC, which provides assistance to our military families. With your help HCCU was able to raise $568.14. A special thanks to Sean Noon from the LMFRC for his participation in this event.

I hope everyone had a fantastic Canada Day. We are already looking forward to next year.

HCCU’s New ATMs

2009-06-27T10:54:00.001-04:00

HCCU is happy to announce the installation of two brand new ATM machines at our King St. and Mohawk Rd. locations. This investment in new technology is in keeping with HCCU’s dedication of providing the best services to our members.

Why did we need to replace the ATMs?

There are several reasons HCCU made the decision to invest in technology and replace our ATM machines. First, the ATMs we had reached the end of their life cycle and were beginning to malfunction. This made them very labour intensive and required plenty of man hours to keep them online and running smoothly. This was also the final year that we could obtain a service contract for repairs. With the frequency of malfunctions being reported it was time they were replaced.

The other reason for the replacement has to do with system compliancy in order to provide you, our members, with the service and convenience you require. Services such as Interac, allowing you access to your funds across the globe, and the Exchange Network, which provides service charge free transactions and depository services at 2,100 ATMs across Canada, all require HCCU to comply with certain regulations and industry standards. Our ATMs must be Interac and Exchange compatible; something our old machines were not. Moving forward with Canada’s adoption of Chip Technology requires all ATMs be Chip compliant; something our old machines could not be upgraded to.

As you can see the investment HCCU has made in to new technology and our new ATMs positions us positively for the future.

On Going Issues and Possible Glitches

During the installation of any new technology, glitches may arise and problems will have to be worked through. The installation of our new ATMs is no exception and we ask that you be patient with us as we work through any errors. There are currently a few issues we are aware of and our working around the clock to resolve.

HCCU members are being charged a $1.25 service charge for transactions at our ATM. Our banking system provider, is aware of this error and will rectify this as soon as possible. In the meantime a report is being produced and all members will have any incorrect charges reversed.

There may be several members whose debit cards need to be repinned in one of our branches in order for your card to work at our new ATM machines and on the Interac network. Regulations require a four (4) digit PIN number to be used on all ATM machines. If you were using a PIN with more than four digits at our machines, you should now be using your new four digit number as you would when using your card at any other financial institution’s machine. If you have never set up a four digit number you will need to visit one of our branches to do so.

If you have any other issues, problems, concerns or questions regarding our ATM machines or your debit card, please consult either branch and we`ll be happy to work through these issues.

Again HCCU thanks you for your patience during this installation period. In the near future you can look forward to new innovative features and functionality being added to our ATMs to provide you, our members, with the best service possible.

Canada Day

2009-06-17T11:56:00.003-04:00

This year HCCU will be having a special celebration this June 30th in honour of Canada day and our Military Families. Come out and join us at either branch for a Barbeque with refreshments. All the proceeds will go to the LMFRC, a program that supports our local military families.

Hope to see you there, and remember, our offices will be closed on July 1st!

71st Annual Guide-Scout Parade

2009-06-01T14:06:00.002-04:00

May 30th marked the 71st Annual Parade of the Girl Guides and Boy Scouts sponsored once again by your Hamilton Community Credit Union. Below are a couple pictures taken during the days events.

Girl Guides and Scouts parading down Main Street

On the reviewing stand at the parade: Scott Zimmerman (Chair of HCCU Board of Directors) - left, Clare Maitland (HCCU Internal Auditor) – centre

Important Information Regarding Debit Card Fraud

2009-05-29T14:49:00.002-04:00

In view of the recent news reports that have been circulating regarding Debit Card Fraud within our communities, and the personal affects we have seen on our members, HCCU feels it’s important to set the facts straight and provide some information regarding this criminal enterprise and how you can protect yourself.

First off, we would like to enforce the fact that Member Cards, issued through the Interac Association, and our partnership with The Exchange Network is an extremely secure and protected system. All transactions are closely monitored and include a multitude of checks and measures to insure the safety of your money. However, as with any convenience, there is going to be a risk factor involved. This risk is present whether it be carrying cash or paying with plastic.

Here are the facts:

Canada is a world leader in debit card usage. In 2008 there were 110 million payment cards in circulation in Canada and by 2013 this is expected to reach 130 million cards, with 720,000 merchant acceptance locations.

In 2007, nearly 160,000 cardholders, about 1 in 200 Canadians, were victims of debit card fraud, and were reimbursed almost $107 million, an amount nearly double that of three years earlier.

Five seconds is all it takes for fraudsters to install equipment that would rig an automatic banking machine to capture debit card information from unsuspecting users.
There is no specific type of store or location that is more prone to debit card fraud. However, the fraudsters are looking to skim as many cards as possible in the shortest period of time. Any location that records a high volume of debit card transactions could be at risk.

As you will see in the following scenario, in most cases it is not an employee of the store doing the skimming of the cards. Typically the store is unaware of the fraud until notified by the police that their equipment has been tampered with. It is because of this that financial institutions do not release the location that the fraud took place if your debit card has been compromised.

The following was taken from the Hamilton Spectator in an article dated January 24 2009 titled Beware the Debit Card Swindlers regarding Debit Card Fraud in Ontario and outlines the normal approach used in a Debit Card Scam.

“The first step in a scam is to accumulate the debit card information from unsuspecting users, via a couple of avenues -- from an automatic banking machine that has been rigged, or by tampering with the portable terminals that stores and restaurants hand their customers to enter their personal identification numbers during a transaction.

When a user inserts a debit card, the counterfeit slot gathers the information before the card gets sucked through the real slot into the machine. Because the transaction proceeds normally, the user isn't aware that something improper has happened.

A second piece is designed to fit under the top of the banking machine. A small pinhole opening has been cut into the metal so that a miniature camera can record the keypad below.

Next to the camera, a small computer processor stores the video, complete with a date and time stamp. When account information has been captured from a debit card inserted through the phoney front slot, the camera then records the PIN that has been entered by the customer. The date and time stamp allows the crooks to match the PINs with the right card info.

At some later point, the fraudsters will return to retrieve the pieces they've installed and then the information will be dumped into a spreadsheet program.

At a retail outlet, the thieves want to get their hands on the portable terminals used by the customers.

Working in groups of two, their goal is to be the last shoppers left in a store at closing time. One of them will distract the sales staff while the other surreptitiously unplugs the debit card terminal and replaces it with a dummy replica.

Overnight, the crooks will carefully open the confiscated terminal so that the security switch doesn't activate, and then a duplicate processing chip will be inserted beside the original chip.
The newly inserted chip will now capture the account information stored on the magnetic stripe of the debit card when it's swiped in the machine.

The duplicate processor comes equipped with Bluetooth wireless technology that will transmit the data like a radio signal that can be captured by a nearby laptop computer or BlackBerry-style device.

The next morning, the thieves return as the store's first customers of the day, replace the dummy terminal with the altered terminal and then set up shop outside the store, ready to begin gathering information from the cards. You'd have no way of knowing the portable terminal has been compromised.

Once enough information has been stolen, it's surprisingly simple to make fake copies of the debit cards.

A magnetic stripe encoding machine costs a few hundred dollars, and plastic cards with blank stripes can be easily purchased off the Internet at a cost of $19 for 100.

The crooks will then begin encoding plastic cards with the required account information, and then write the PIN on the front of the card.

The final step is the "spend" -- the highly synchronized operation when the counterfeit debit cards are used to collect cash.

The bank machines targeted for a spend may be spread across southern Ontario, into Quebec and as far away as B.C.

Each team has four people -- a driver, a lookout and two people inside at the automatic banking machine.

The team is given a cellphone and a portable safe. At 6 a.m., a call comes in, giving the team the combination to the safe.

Inside are all the counterfeit debit cards to be used during the spend, and the thieves are told not to exceed certain withdrawal thresholds with the cards to avoid setting off security warnings.

And then it's like kids in a candy store. Card after card is inserted, and $480 or $980 is withdrawn time after time.

The thieves have only a small window of time before the cards will get shut down by the banking institutions.

On the other side of the equation, banking institutions are constantly monitoring transactions, looking for suspicious patterns of card activity.

Within half an hour from the start of a spend, the banks will be able to identify that a fraud is taking place.

The banks are able to work backwards in that short period of time to determine the common point of use where all the card information was stolen, whether it was a bank machine, retail outlet or fast-food restaurant, for example.”

How to Protect Yourself

Although HCCU along with The Interac Association is constantly monitoring card usage to protect your account there are many simple ways you can help prevent yourself form being defrauded.

1. Cover up your PIN when entering it.
2. Never let someone at a retail outlet or restaurant walk out of sight with your debit card.
3. Check your bank statements for irregular transactions
4. If you don’t feel comfortable with the transaction, don’t proceed.
5. Change your PIN often

Debit cards will soon come with microchips that will eventually replace the black magnetic stripe used to store information. The chip acts as a small computer allowing the card to interact with the terminal to perform complex security checks. This technology will be mandatory by 2012 for all bank machines and 2015 for retail outlets.

If you have any other questions regarding your debit card, the Interac system, or instances of fraud, please contact your HCCU branch for details.

Weekend Update

2009-05-19T10:02:00.002-04:00

As the first long weekend has past, with fireworks being lit across the city it is clear that summer is upon us.

And with summer comes baseball. Weekends at the local diamonds will be crowded with tots of all ages trying to master hand eye coordination.

One team in particular that HCCU will be keeping its eye on plays in the Berrisfield league. Our Hamilton Community Credit Union sponsored t-ball team played their first game over the Victoria Day weekend, winning by a score of 31-29.

Let`s hope, like the Blue Jays, that they can keep this winning season on course.

Spring Raffle Winners

2009-05-04T15:51:00.001-04:00

HCCU would like to congratulate the following winners of our 2009 Spring Raffle

Mohawk Road Branch

1st Prize – Camping Package – Roddie Perks

2nd Prize – Dinner and a Movie Passes – Terry Gadoury

3rd Prize – Tim Horton’s Gift Certificates – Christine Simonyai, Mary Irvine, & Albert Longtin

King Street Branch

1st Prize – Mountain Bike – Tim Kersley

2nd Prize – Dinner and a Movie Passes – Greg Estey

3rd Prize – Tim Horton’s Gift Certificates - Harvey Phillips, Nancy Nault, & Anne Forester

All of the proceeds from our raffle went to Cancer Assistance

HCCU on Facebook

2009-04-24T09:36:00.004-04:00

HCCU now has a Facebook page and we would love to have you become a fan!

Facebook provides yet another channel for us to talk to you, our members, on a more personal level through the channels you already enjoy to use. Through Facebook we will be keeping our members up to date with events and promotions, and general news taking place at our Credit Union.

And if you have any comments or concerns, Facebook is a great way to share your voice and receive a direct response from an HCCU employee.

Come check our page out here.

Talk to you soon.

It’s Spring Time It’s Raffle Time

2009-04-09T15:41:00.006-04:00

If there’s something that can be relied upon, like the leaves returning to the trees, it’s that when April arrives HCCU will be raising money for Cancer Assistance and handing out some fantastic prizes. This year is no different.

What is different is that there are more great prizes to be won with a separate raffle being held at each branch. Check the details below ....

King Street Branch

Mohawk Rd. Branch

Don't forget all the proceeds go to Cancer Assistance. Raffle ends at the end of April so get in and get your tickets today!

Credit Crisis Explenation Through Video

2009-03-27T16:26:00.000-04:00

A good and simple explanation of how the Credit Crisis took place.

Please keep in mind that this video illustrates the situation in the US and how it has affected the rest of the world. It is meant for information purposes and HCCU does not take responsibility for the accuracy of the information contained in the video.

The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.

HCCU’s 70th AGM’s Success!

2009-03-11T11:16:00.006-04:00

Last night was HCCU’s 70th Annual General Meeting and what a success it was.

The AGM was held at Michelangelo’s banquet Hall on Upper Ottawa in Hamilton, which was a beautiful location to house such an event. The turn out was fantastic, one of our best in years, with roughly 200 members and 15 guests in attendance, including business partners, suppliers, auditor and regulators.

The food was fantastic and the service very professional. A four course meal beginning with delicious lasagna was followed by a turkey dinner complete with all the fixings. Along with the turkey dinner was a side salad, and a crepe dish stuffed with vanilla ice cream and a cherry topping to finish. Throughout dinner we were able to watch a video of the history of Hamilton Community Credit Union created by Debbie Foley and Jordan Moat. The video will be hosted soon on our webpage for all to view.

After dinner it was time for business with reports being orated regarding the success of the Credit Union in 2008, and our concerns and goals moving forward in the current economic situation. With all motions carried we moved to the elections of the Board of Directors. Three of the Board Members were up for re-election, Pearl Davie, Pat MacDougall and Walter Robertson, with Sharron Miller also running for election. After 60 years of dedication and service to the HCCU Board of Directors, Walter Robertson decided it was time to hang up his hat, and stepped down from the nomination. Walter Robertson’s devotion and commitment to the HCCU and our board of Directors will be sadly missed. With that the election was closed and the three remaining candidates were voted in. Alec McLeod was also successfully re-elected to our Auditing Committee.

Upon completion of the election it was time for the fun stuff. There were numerous draws for some excellent door prizes followed by our Grand Prize of a 40” LCD HDTV which we’re happy to announce was won by Gord Sommers.

Overall the night was a wonderful success. Special thanks to Debbie Foley, Sarah Quinn, and Jen Digennaro who helped make the night run without a hitch. Hopefully we can continue in to the future with such outstanding turn outs to all of our AGMs.

Have a look at some pics from the night below.

HCCU Celebrates Family Day

2009-02-10T12:20:00.002-05:00

HCCU Will be observing the following hours in regards to Family Day:

Open - Saturday February 14th 2009

Closed - Monday February 16th 2009

Open - Tuesday February 17th 2009

Have a safe and Happy Family Day.

TFSA Q&A

2009-01-21T09:28:00.000-05:00

We’re now 19 days in to the New Year, and 19 days in to the existence of the new TFSA accounts. What’s a TFSA you ask? That’s a good question as many people either know little about the TFSA’s or have other questions on just how exactly they work. So let’s open the HCCU blog up for a little TFSA Q&A.

What is a TFSA?

The basics behind the TFSA are as follows. On January First 2009 the Federal Government of Canada introduced a new savings vehicle called a Tax Free Savings Account or TFSA. A TFSA consists of contributions that are made within pre-defined limits and the investment income earned on the TFSA deposits is tax-free. For 2009 you can deposit $5,000.00 in to a TFSA account offered by financial institutions such as the Hamilton Community Credit Union. Each year thereafter the contribution room will increase by at least an additional $5,000.00.

Here at the HCCU we offer two different options for investing in a TFSA. You can either deposit the money to a TFSA savings account, where the money is available to you at any time, or lock it in to a TFSA GIC for a term of 1 to 5 years at corresponding rates of interest.

You can withdrawal these funds at any time, providing they are not locked in to a GIC, but can not redeposit this amount until the following year unless you still have the available contribution room. The withdrawn amount gets added to your contribution room for the following year, just like any unused contribution room carries forward to the following year.

This should explain the foundation of a TFSA, but if you have any other questions regarding these please post them in the comments below and we’ll be sure to answer them over the coming weeks.

2008 Year in Review

2008-12-31T09:16:00.002-05:00

As we wind down on our time remaining in 2008 it’s customary to look back on the months past and remember what was the year of 2008. Throughout the World, throughout Canada there were plenty of developments that made headlines, just as there were in Ontario and within the city of Hamilton. The same holds true for Hamilton Community Credit Union as 2008 saw a year filled with plenty of changes, growth and development. Of course the end of 2008 will always be remembered for the Financial Crisis that took hold of most of the world and is still being played out as we head in to 2009, but there was also a lot of positives especially here at HCCU. Join me for a look back on 2008, you can also click each title to link to the orginal post for each event.

The Beginning of the Blog

January of 2008 saw the beginning of the HCCU blog, a forum that allows HCCU a more personal touch with our members that can’t make it in to our branches as much. With the adoption of technology, many members choose to do more of their banking online, or via Interac cards. Through the HCCU blog we’ve created a place where we can keep our members up to date on the happenings of the Credit Union and our staff. It also provides a place at the end of each post where members can comment, ask questions, or provide feedback. So far the HCCU blog has been a relative success with many members logging in every week to read the latest posts. We hope to continue the HCCU blog in to 2009 as well as introducing new ways that our members can interact with HCCU online.

HCCU Joins The Exchange Network

2008 saw HCCU creating many ways that our members could use their debit cards both for POS purchases and at other FI’s ATM machines at reduced costs. The first method was in partnering up with The Exchange Network to allow our members surcharge free withdrawals from other Credit Union ATMs that are also part of The Exchange. This gave our members access to 2300 ATMs across Canada that they could not only withdrawal from free of surcharges, but could also make deposits at.

Annual General Meeting

March saw our AGM where many of our members met, for the first time, our new CEO, Malcolm Stoffman. As usual our AGM had a fair turnout of members who listened to reports from our management team along with both our internal and external auditors on how your Credit Union preformed over the past fiscal year. As this year marks our 70th anniversary HCCU`s AGM will be a extra special event. Watch here for more details leading up to March 2009.

Launch of the New Website

June saw the launch of HCCU’s new website which I’m sure you`ve all become accustomed too. It was a busy month leading up to the launch with lots of work by our staff and third party web design team but in the end what we came up with was a progressive, interactive, and information rich website that is both modern and aesthetically pleasing. The HCCU website will be an ongoing project that will continue to grow throughout 2009 and the years to come.

Student Loans and LOC’s

In time for the coming school semester, HCCU introduced Student Loans and Lines of Credit, a product that had been extremely sought after by our members. What differs this product from many of the other FI’s student loans is that it is open not just to college or university students, but also to those going in to trade school or any post secondary course. We’re hoping this product will help develop our young HCCU members as they advance themselves academically.

HCCU Debit One Plan

In a second step to help reduce the costs of using ones debit card HCCU introduced the Debit One Plan at the end of summer. This Plan allows for a small monthly fee to be paid in return for unlimited POS use for purchases in stores and 4 withdrawals free of charge at any FI’s ATMs. This is one of the least expensive plans in the market for Debit Card usage in keeping with HCCU’s philosophy of no or low fee banking.

Malcolm Visits Bangladesh

In September our Malcolm was invited by the CCA and ACCU to visit Bangladesh and join in on a workshop to help develop strategies and plans for Asian Credit Unions in their rapidly changing culture. During his five day trip Malcolm kept a journal on the HCCU blog keeping us up to date on his exciting experiences both within the workshop and the amazing city of Dakka, the capital of Bangladesh.

Financial Crisis

As mentioned the Financial Crisis that ripped through the economic world beginning in late 2008 really dominated the headlines despite the positives created in the first three quarters of the year. With an absolute collapse of the worlds stock markets, major financial institutions being forced to close up shop south of the border due impart to a swamp of bad debt and mortgage foreclosures, along with plummeting home values, and a crumbling of the big three automakers, 2008 certainly had its doom and gloom. Thankfully due to strong government economic regulations in Canada, and HCCU’s tried and tested method of investing local money in our local economy at minimal risk we have been able to forego the meltdown that seemed to capture so many others. That’s not to say that a poor economy and tightening credit markets did not affect us, but we are certainly in a strong financial position and see this as an important time to show the values of a local Credit Union and our ability to serve our local community.

Participation Rebate

Finally we come to the last bit of financial information posted every year by HCCU - Our ever popular Participation Rebate. Once again, despite the credit crisis affecting global markets, HCCU is please to pay back a Participation Rebate to those members with Loans, Lines of Credits, Mortgages, Term Deposits or GICs at HCCU. On December 31st in the late afternoon, expect to see 8% of the interest made or paid to us deposited back in to your account, split 5% in to your savings (0) account and 3% in to your permanent capital (.28). Another successful year for HCCU and for all of our members.

That concludes our look back on 2008. We look forward to seeing you next year where you can expect to see a lot of new things at HCCU. I know I’m excited.

Have a Safe and Happy New Year.

HCCU Member Satisfaction Survey

2008-11-19T10:20:00.001-05:00

Hamilton Community Credit Union understands that members like you deserve top quality service. In order to improve our processes, our products, and to be able to offer even better service, we are asking for your help in completing the enclosed survey.

The 2008 Member Satisfaction Survey will assess your experiences in the financial sector regarding products, convenience, referrals, and of course your overall satisfaction levels. Once the survey is complete, the data will be compiled and reviewed to assist in decision making at HCCU going forward into 2009 and beyond.

Your reply is greatly appreciated! Once you have submitted your survey you will be entered in to a draw for one of two chances to win $500 deposited in to your HCCU Self Serve Savings Account!

Click here to download the Member Satisfaction Survey in PDF format.

Please have all completed surveys returned at either branch, no later than December 15th 2008 for your chance in our draw.

Thanks for your participation and good luck in our draw.

Happy Halloween

2008-10-31T11:29:00.003-04:00

Halloween is upon us. No doubt you’ll see plenty of ghouls, ghosts and monsters walking the streets tonight, but for many the biggest scare today is that of the current financial situation of Canada, and that of the Global Economy. We’ve all read the papers, and watched the news, but what does this mean for HCCU. For that we’ll go to the source and ask our CEO, Malcolm Stoffman.

Dear Member,

You have likely heard stories in the media recently about troubled financial institutions, bank failures in the United States, turbulence in the stock markets and frozen credit markets. There is little doubt, that we are in the midst of a global financial crisis of which the scale is not yet fully understood. That said, I wanted to take this opportunity to address the situation from Hamilton Community Credit Union’s (HCCU) perspective and put your minds at ease in regards to the safety and security of your Credit Union and your deposits.

HCCU is a local financial cooperative that matches the needs of local savers with local borrowers. HCCU does not currently borrow, nor do we rely on the capital markets to fund our lending obligations, all of our mortgages, loans and lines of credit are funded through the deposits of our members. We are well capitalized (in excess of regulatory and board policy requirements), highly liquid and have taken a number of steps recently to improve our risk management and lending practices. Our strong financial position and prudent lending policies position us well to weather this storm.

In addition to the strength and stability of our organization, deposits at HCCU are insured for up to $100,000 through the Deposit Insurance Corporation of Ontario*. Management and the Board of Directors at HCCU continue to monitor the financial services landscape carefully and are committed to taking the steps necessary to ensure the long-term sustainability of your Credit Union. We continue to take a prudent and conservative approach to managing the Credit Union and we are constantly aware of the trust that you put in us, every day.

If you have any questions about the safety and stability of HCCU or any other aspect of the business or the current financial crisis, I would encourage you to contact me directly at 905-529-9445 or by email at malcolm@hccu.on.ca. Thank you for your continued support of HCCU.

Sincerely,

Malcolm Stoffman
Chief Executive Officer
Hamilton Community Credit Union

*For further information on deposit insurance coverage, please ask for a brochure at the credit union, or call DICO at 1-800-268-6653or visit http://www.dico.com/.

Credit Union Day - Wrap Up

2008-10-21T16:05:00.006-04:00

Once again Credit Union day was another success. HCCU would like to thank all of our volunteers, and supporters who donated prizes and baked goods. A lot of hard work goes in to organizing these events and their dedication is much appreciated.

HCCU was able to raise $920.10 at our Mohawk Branch and $718.50 at our King St Branch for a total of $1,638.60 all of which was donated to Hamilton Food Share. With every dollar donated Hamilton Food Share can you its buying power to purchase $10 worth of food for someone in need. That’s $16,386.00 worth of food that HCCU with the help of our members and staff were able to raise thanks to the success of Credit Union Day.

The following is a list of winners from our Credit Union Day Raffle

1st Prize – Bulldogs Prize pack - David Turbitt
....................................... - Sharon Mugford

2nd Prize – Bulldogs Tickets - Hubert Brons
......................................- Guy Hersey

3rd Prize – Ti-Cat Tickets - Randy Thompson

4th Prize – Preserve Basket - Leigh-Anne Vervaeke
......................................- Frank Mifsud

5th Prize – Jar of Honey - Christine Simonyai
....................................- David Turbitt
....................................- John Arnold
....................................- Dorothy Birkes

Congratulations go out to all the winners and another round of applause for all of those that took part in such a wonderful day.

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-10-10T14:01:00.001-04:00

It’s a beautiful day in the neighbourhood. The sun is shining, the leaves are changing, and Thanksgiving is upon us. Weather wise, this could be the nicest long weekend of the year, and we here at the HCCU hope all our members make the best of it. We invite you to share any plans you may have in the comments below. Let us also remind you that we too will be enjoying the long weekend and will be closed both Saturday October 11th and Monday October 13th but open for business on Tuesday the 14th.

Of course if you were hoping to get an application in for our Santa’s Helper loans over the weekend you can always CLICK HERE and apply with an online application. One of our lenders will be in touch with you normally the following business day.

What’s a Santa’s Helper Loan you ask? Its HCCU’s Christmas loan special of $2000.00 per household at ZERO% Interest until March first. If that’s not the deal of the holidays I don’t know what is.

With that have a Safe and Happy Thanksgiving

Hunger Count 2008

2008-09-29T16:16:00.001-04:00

Last Monday I attended the Greater Hamilton Food Share’s Head Office for a press release announcing the sponsorship program by Tim Horton’s and their Smile Cookie campaign. Every penny from the one dollar purchase of a smile cookie at time Horton’s went directly to Hamilton Food Share, which in turn can then purchase ten dollars worth of food to give to those in need.
It was at this Press release that Joanne Santucci, released the Hunger Count of 2008, a report on the state of Hamilton population in regard to those in need of financial support – and the numbers are shocking.

Some notes:

More than 15,500 people turn to food banks every month.
That number represents 6300 households
40% of those are children
One in Five of those children go without breakfast or a balanced meal at least once a week.
$4.10 per day – the amount that a single parent with one child on Ontario Works has for food.
$14,000.00 – the poverty gap between actual Ontario Works Benefit Income and the poverty line for a single parent with one child.

As I said the numbers are shocking and it’s up to the community and organizations like Tim Horton’s and your Hamilton Community Credit Union to step up and assist.

HCCU will be doing there part by helping raise money with our Credit Union Day raffle and event. October 16th marks International Credit Union Day and at HCCU that means a BBQ and Bake Sale featuring the delicious eats of our very own members and staff (if you’re a baker please contact either branch to donate your baked goods) and our Credit Union Day Raffle.

1st prize – Hamilton Bulldogs Prize Pack including tickets and a Jersey
2nd prize – Hamilton Bulldog tickets

All proceeds are donated to the Greater Hamilton Food Share to help our local communities
during the busy winter season so come on in and get your tickets and make sure to visit us on the 16th.

Also check back for Malcolm’s wrap up of his trip to Bangladesh.

Malcolm in Bangladesh - Day 5

2008-09-26T12:14:00.000-04:00

Today was a quiet day in the hotel for me. No presentations or visits and heavy rains kept me inside for the whole day. This evening the Co-operative Credit Union League of Bangladesh hosted “Bangladesh Night” that featured a number of culturally significant song and dance numbers by local artists and a traditional meal.

I’m hoping to get to bed early tonight as tomorrow is my final and largest presentation at the conference and when it is over I will be packing up and heading back on the long journey home.

This trip and conference has been an excellent experience but I am looking forward to getting back home to see my family, getting back to the office, eating some of my favourite foods and breathing some fresh clean air (yes, by comparison Hamilton has nice clean air).

Malcolm in Bangladesh - Day 4

2008-09-25T14:00:00.001-04:00

September 25

As mentioned, today we took a bus tour through the city to a local Credit Union but before we went there, we stopped for a presentation at ASA (pronounced Asha), Bangladesh’s largest Micro Finance Institution (MFI). The name is not as familiar as the other major MFI (Grameen Bank, whose founder Muhammad Yunus won the 2006 Nobel Peace prize) but the organization is very similar in its mission to help lift people out of poverty by encouraging savings and offering small self-help loans. There we heard their founder talk about the organization and the work that they are doing. They have over 3,330 branches and over seven million members accessing their services which include savings, and a variety of lending products classified as Small Loans, Small Business Loans, Small Entrepreneur Loans, Hardcore Poor Loans, Education Loans, Short Term Loans, Rehabilitation Loans, IT Loans and Agribusiness Loans. They also provide health assistance, and insurance solutions and they run a well respected University that grants degrees, including an LLB and MBA.

The presentation was very interesting and the work that they are doing is certainly having a positive impact for some, but my thoughts are mixed on whether Micro Credit, is a realistic long term strategy to solve the poverty problem. One participant asked an excellent question that ASA, was unable to provide a good answer to…”with all of the MFI’s offering services in the area aren’t many people simply borrowing from one to pay the other”. ASA’s answer was simply yes, in some cases. To me it sounded a lot like people at home using credit cards to pay for other credit cards, and this is certainly not an effective way to reduce poverty. The intention is good and it is helping millions, but I don’t think that it is the right solutions for everyone. But until a better solution emerges it is a step in the right direction.

From there, we fought our way through Dhaka’s traffic to visit the Buddhist Co-operative Credit Union, that serves 1515 members. This tiny one room Credit Union welcomed us warmly with song, food and drinks and they showed us their basic operations and gave us statistical overview of the organization that has been in business since 1990. Today, they have roughly $300,000 (in Canadian dollars) in assets and notably almost $25,000 of that is in children’s savings accounts. They also have 8 of 12 board member who are under the age of 35, so they seem to be doing a good job of reaching the next generation of members and leaders and they should be well positioned to survive and thrive into the future.

Overall a very interesting day, although I have to admit that I was at times overwhelmed by the sights, sounds, smells and heat of the city.

Tomorrow, I’ll spend the day in conference sessions in the comfort of the hotel’s air conditioning.

Malcolm in Bangladesh - Day 3

2008-09-24T13:10:00.001-04:00

September 24, another productive and successful day in Bangladesh.

Today was the final day of the workshop and we were able to synthesize all of the learning and theory into a number of recommendations that were presented to the conference and will be acted upon at the three levels of Credit Unions in Asia. Firstly we made recommendation to individual Credit Unions, knows as “Primaries” in Asia, to the national federations, and to the Asian Confederation of Credit Unions. We came up with some excellent plans and it is now up to those three levels to implement them and take action if these plans are ultimately going to have the desired impact of attracting young members to Credit Unions as a way to reduce poverty.

Judging by the excitement of the group, I think that they have a good chance of seeing at least some of these recommendations be implemented. In fact, I further explored the city and went to a local shopping centre (Bashundhara City, a 21 story modern complex that houses the largest shopping mall in South Asia)after the workshop and presentation, with Derek Cameron and Tapon Rodrigues ( a young Credit Union Director and native of Dhaka). Over a drink in the food court I was thrilled by Tapon’s excitement. He came to the conference with little in the way of expectations and is now very excited about the prospect for making changes in his Credit Union. He has already spoken to the Chair of his Board of Directors about some of the initiatives and programs that he would like to implement and he has developed a two year plan and timetable to measure his success. I’m certain that his enthusiasm and renewed passion will have a real and positive effect on the Credit Union system in Bangladesh and hopefully it will help to lift at least some people out of their unimaginable poverty. Education as well as products and services designed to encourage savings and thrift are extremely powerful tools to help people break their shackles of extreme poverty.

Tomorrow I will be spending the day with a group of conference attendees visiting at least one local Credit Union. I’m looking forward to seeing it in action and comparing it to what we are used to in Canada.

Malcolm in Bangladesh - Day 2

2008-09-23T14:05:00.000-04:00

September 23 was an exciting and eye opening day.

My session went very well and I think that we made some real progress in terms of coming up with some solutions to the challenges of poverty and sustainability for Asian Credit Unions, and it was the first time that I have had a chance to experience the sights, sounds and smells of the city beyond my hotel walls.

As a group we went through a number scenarios that I had come up with in terms of needs of member and how to develop products and services to meet those needs. It was interesting to me that in many cases the scenarios that I had developed were nowhere near the realities of the Asian market place. For example in Canada, approximately 50% of marriages end in divorce, this creates needs for savings and lending solutions for single parents. While common in Canada, the notion of single parents in Bangladesh was extremely foreign. According the statistics that I heard today, less than 1% of local marriages end in divorce and the numbers are similarly low elsewhere in Asia.

Young people here are not buying houses (in fact many Asian Credit Unions don’t offer mortgages) until they are much older, many are living with multiple generations in a single “flat”. Asian youth are saving for smaller scale things like computers, and electronic gadgets that many North Americans buy outright or finance through loans or credit cards. There is also a lot of emphasis on saving for education because in many cases even a secondary school education requires that the student finance at least a portion of it. Another interesting piece of information that I learned today was that many Asian’s are unable to afford to deliver their infants in hospitals. Without the support of a national healthcare systems, many young Asian families are forced to give birth at home without medical attention. We discussed this situation in detail and explored the possibilities of Credit Unions providing some sort of self-insurance for exactly this situation. A model exists in Indonesia where some Credit Unions are doing just this and we explored the possibilities of adapting and applying their solutions elsewhere on the continent.

The workshop felt great. We tackled some big issues and came up with some small, but actionable solutions. Everyone recognizes that these are huge issues and we don’t think that we can solve any of them, what we are hoping to do is bring about some small changes that can hopefully grow.

After the workshop, one of the participants (Shajal a Dhaka resident), a couple of other conference attendees and I explored a bit of this sprawling, over-crowded, polluted and incredibly impoverished city. We walked a ways, visited a local art gallery and library before taking a rickshaw (the city has 400,000 of them) to a place known as the Bongo Bazaar. This market was literally packed floor to ceiling with all sorts of clothing and fabrics. People were selling everything and negotiating was the name of the game. I was extremely hot and crowded and a little bit overwhelming. Without Shajal I would be been lost and I’m sure I would still be there walking around in the maze of aisles and corridors. I bought a couple of shirts as did the others and we wondered around this market for about an hour. It was quite an experience. I have never seen anything like it. Then we took a “Tuck Tuck” a three wheeled motorized rickshaw back to the hotel where we had dinner and shared the story of our experience with others.

Today was truly a day that I will never forget.

Looking forward to wrapping up the workshop tomorrow, the tour of the local Credit Union on Thursday and then my presentation to the conference on Saturday.

Malcolm in Bangladesh - Day 1

2008-09-22T11:31:00.001-04:00

As expected, my trip to the Bangladesh capital of Dhaka was very long. My journey started at 5:30 am with a pick up at my home and after a couple of stops to pick up other travelers I arrived at the airport around 7:15 am, checked-in and cleared security before heading towards my departure gate to meet up with my travelling companion Derek Cameron from the CCA. Our flight to Hong Kong left at 9:30 am and lasted about 16 hours and with the exception of some turbulence about three hours out of Hong Kong was relatively uneventful. Upon arriving in Hong Kong I enjoyed a short rest and shower in one of the airport’s traveler’s lounges, had some dinner and made a few phone calls before boarding the Dragon Air flight to Dhaka. This was a short four hour flight and it seemed like a breeze after the 16 hour marathon of earlier in the day. Got to Dhaka at about 1:00 am local time, took over an hour to get through customs and to claim my luggage and I arrived at my hotel just before 3:00 am.

Got a wake-up call for 8:00 so that I could attend the first conference presentation at 9:00 and begin my workshop at 10:00. The opening session was very interesting and had speakers from the ACCU and from the Bangladesh Credit Union League. They talked about the system and the economy and it was a real eye opener for me. Bangladesh has a population of 150 million people, making it the eighth most populous country in the world and with its relatively small land mass it has a population density of over 950 people per square Km. It is also an extremely poor country with a national average annual per capita GDP of only US$ 599. I expect that poverty and its alleviation will be a recurring theme at this week’s sessions.

My workshop topic for today was “Understanding the Youth Market” and from my perspective the session went very well considering cultural and language barriers with 22 people from 8 countries represented. It was interesting to me that Credit Unions around the world share a similar challenge…that of being relevant to the next generation of members. We talked about segmentation and tried to understand what drives the youth market (defined as under 35) in making purchase decisions and for signing up for Credit Union membership. We will continue the session tomorrow and on Wednesday we will create a marketing plan that will be endorsed by ACCU and rolled out to its member nations.

So far so good. Feeling good, although a little tired now that the day is done. Going to have some dinner in the hotel before turning in for an early night.

HCCU in Bangladesh

2008-09-19T13:56:00.004-04:00

In the world of Credit Unions, an accusation that is so often tossed around is “You’re becoming more like a bank everyday!” but what does a statement like this mean? What it usually means is that the Credit Union has lost that personal touch. They’re no longer a friend to the member and begin to nickel and dime their “customers” every chance they get. More so they’ve lost the spirit of what a Credit Union is all about – Providing financial assistance and solutions to further community development. In other words, to help out his fellow man, which is why it gives me great pleasure to introduce to you Hamilton Community Credit Union’s CEO, Malcolm Stoffman, as he prepares to travel across the globe to achieve exactly this.

A few words from our CEO….

From September 20 – October 1 I have accepted a Technical Assignment that was offered to me by the Canadian Co-operative Association (CCA) in partnership with the Asian Confederation of Credit Union (ACCU). The assignment is made up of two parts; firstly, I will be working with a group of approximately 25 marketing managers and youth marketing experts (from all over Asia) in a three day workshop to help develop strategies and plans to increase their market share with this important demographic. Secondly, I will be addressing ACCU annual meeting on the topic of “Strategies that Build Credit Union Futures”. The meetings and workshops take place in Dhaka, the Capital of Bangladesh. Asian Credit Unions face many of the same challenges that we face here in terms of remaining relevant to the next generation of Credit Union members in addition to the challenges of rapidly changing culture and modernization as a result of the developing nature of their economies. The CCA and the ACCU have a long standing partnership and Canadians have played an important role in helping the countries to develop their co-operative and Credit Union sectors.

I will be leaving Saturday morning from Toronto, flying to Hong Kong, spending several hours there before flying to Dhaka for arrival at approximately 1:00 am local time (30+ hours later). I am in Dhaka from the 22nd until the 28th when I do the reverse trip home. I plan on posting regular updates (including pictures) on the experience to the HCCU Blog so check back often for info and updates.

If you have any questions I am happy to answer them in the comments section below.

Thanks for your support.

Malcolm Stoffman

I know I look forward to hearing about his progress and success.

About the CCA

CCA supports its members and the co-op sector through the provision of services in three core areas - development, government affairs & public policy, and common table.

Development

For over a quarter century, CCA has assisted co-operatives of all types and descriptions in over 40 countries through their International Development Program. Wherever the CCA is active - in Asia, Africa, the Americas, and Eastern Europe – our their development projects are designed and managed with the complete involvement of local co-operative partners. Through co-operatives, CCA works to reduce poverty. Their work helps people to provide themselves with food, with education, with shelter, and with higher levels of income.

Technical Assignments

Each year CCA recruits experts in technical fields such as Credit Union management, sustainable agriculture, co-op legislation and policy, project evaluation, micro-finance and micro-insurance to take on overseas assignments to strengthen local Credit Unions, co-operatives and their federations.

About the ACCU

Since its birth in 1971 the ACCU has served more than 16,000 Credit Unions with 20.5 million individual members in 26 countries in the region along with 17 affiliates promoting Credit Unions in Asia. Membership to ACCU is open to national credit union leagues/federations or other national cooperative financial or similar organizations that follow international Credit Union operating principles and with membership of at least 20,000 individuals or one percent of the population of the country where the organization operates.

Vision

Sustainable Credit Unions in Asia

Mission

ACCU works in partnership with its members to strengthen and promote credit unions as effective instruments of socio-economic development of the people.

ACCU is affiliated with the following international organizations of credit unions/cooperatives:
World Council of Credit Unions

International Raiffeisen Union
International Cooperative Alliance
United Nations

HCCU Has Been Nominated

2008-09-18T18:22:00.001-04:00

Once again this year Hamilton Community Credit Union is being recognized for going above and beyond the communities expectations by being nominated for a Readers’ Choice Award presented by the Hamilton Spectator.

What sets this nomination apart from other awards is that it is not your typical acclamation from a fellow Big Business. This is recognition from you our members in the community we serve.

Truly being recognized by our fellow membership for a job well done is something HCCU is proud of, but in order to secure our place a top the list of Bank/Credit Unions we need your vote.

Follow THIS LINK to the Hamilton Spectator’s Readers’ Choice nominee’s page and make your vote count.

Last year HCCU was awarded the Diamond Award, let’s make this the year we bring home the gold.

Ti-cat Tickets

2008-09-08T11:36:00.003-04:00

The Ti-cats have arranged for 100 (more if we want) ticket vouchers to be made available to us to sell for 25$ each. No money is needed up front but I will be signing for vouchers so I will be responsible for them. They are good for a bronze section ticket to any regular season home game. These tickets are worth $35 plus a service charge and they are good seats. 10 dollars for each voucher sold will go to the Smith fund. There are 4 home games left this year so I hope we can move quickly to get the word out to ATU members who might be able to move some vouchers and perhaps all City of Hamilton employees who may buy vouchers. I will have the vouchers by Friday PM. The remaining home games are, Sat. Sept.6 @4pm, Fri. Sept. 19 @ 7:30pm, Sat. Oct. 4 @ 4pm and Fri. Oct. 24 @ 7:30pm. If you have any questions regarding the program call me or Brian King @ 905-547-2287 X307. To purchase vouchers call 905-387-8361 or 905-741-4872.

Debit Card Plan – Continued….

2008-08-08T09:14:00.005-04:00

The Mob has spoken, even if the mob is only made up of 15, and they’ve come to a decision that we here at the HCCU are behind 100%.

With that I’d like to introduce to you…….drum roll please……..

The Debit One Plan

Yes, Debit One took the election with 53% of the vote, no need for a recount, no need for a run off, and all ready we’ve had an outstanding response from our membership.

I’ve been testing the product for the last couple months and have seen the positive results, not only in my balances, but in the clarity of my statements. If you feel you’re prone to swiping, I suggest you give this product some thought.

It Works for Me, it could Work for You too.

HCCU Prepares to launch its first Debit Card Plan

2008-07-25T13:01:00.002-04:00

Hamilton Community Credit Union has always been proud of our commitment to no or low fees. Since our creation we have never charged monthly fees for savings accounts, chequing privileges, cheque printing, cashing of cheques, or monthly statements. We charge zero fees for withdrawing or depositing cash and even with the adoption of new technology we’ve never nickel and dimed our valued members on payroll deposits, bill payments, online banking, or Automated Fund Transfers.

Over the years our members have come to rely on this excellent pricing to keep their money where it belongs – Growing in their accounts. And for the most part our members don’t pay a single penny for our services unless using their Debit Card to withdrawal money at another institution’s ATM’s or making purchases in a store.

We’ve passed on the charges of $1.25 per withdrawal and .30c per purchase for use of this convenience.

That said many of our members enjoy the convenience provided by their debit cards, but were beginning to notice that convenience could get expensive. That is why HCCU will soon offer the option to pay a small monthly charge to be able to use your debit card as much as you’d like without worrying about the fees. Here’s how it works:

$8.50 a month will enroll you in the plan as long as you have a payroll deposit coming in to your account or a valid student card. This allows for unlimited POS purchases, and four (4) withdrawals from other institutions ATM, and of course the ATM’s located at our two branches will remain free for unlimited use.

We think this will be a real value added service for those members that enjoy the freedom and convenience that a Debit Card can provide. Members that only use their Debit Card in emergencies will not need to enroll in the plan and can continue paying on a per use basis.

The only issue HCCU has now is what to name this plan, and this is where you come in. Below is a few options we’ve come up with and we’d like you to choose what’s best. Have another idea? Leave it in the comments and we’ll give it a gander as well.

poll by twiigs.com

We’ll be running this survey until July 31st so that we’re ready to launch the product at the beginning of August. Regardless of the name we’re sure this will be a competitive product that allows you, our members, the freedom youdesire all while sticking to the philosophy of keeping your money where it belongs.

As Juliet said, what’s in a name?

Smith Girl's Trust Fund

2008-07-07T14:16:00.002-04:00

Account #3196800 Transit #2115 Branch#828

For Madison & Genna Smith
(age 9 & 3)

An account has been opened here at the Hamilton Community Credit Union by the ATU Union in response to a traffic accident that claimed the lives of an HSR driver, Bill Smith, his wife, Sandra Smith, and their seven year old daughter Kaylee on Thursday June 26th. This account was created for the surviving daughters, Madison & Genna.

For more informaiton you can contact either of our branches.

Canada Day Weekend

2008-06-26T15:05:00.003-04:00

Summer is officially here. Sure the Solstice was last weekend, but it is this weekend that signifies the summers start in Hamilton. CH News is reporting a humidex level, the Ticats kick off their season opener tonight, and all weekend long we will be celebrating our national day – Canada Day.

Of course no Canada Day would be complete without the annual HCCU Canada Day celebrations. Once again both of our offices will be celebrating Canada Day on Monday June 30th with snacks and coffee and the handing out Canadian flags to the HCCU youths.

We hope to see you on the Monday, but don’t forget our office will be closed on Tuesday July 1st

Happy Canada Day!

HCCU is Everywhere

2008-06-20T12:37:00.007-04:00

Let me start by giving some details on how HCCU fared in the ball hockey tournament played a couple weekends ago at Limeridge Mall parking lot.....not good.....but we sure had a lot of fun. Despite a solid effort by staff and friends HCCU was defeated in both our games. Ultimately it was a team entered by Tim Horton’s that took home the gold in the tournament that raised over $8,000 for Hamilton's CHML/Y108 Children's Fund and Brantford's Kids Can Fly charities.

Speaking of Y108 (nice segue) have you happened to hear HCCU’s latest add that has been broadcasting in high volume on the airways of Hamilton’s best rock station Y108. In the ad HCCU calls attention to an outstanding mortgage promotion and directs listeners to a special website and redirects the traffic to the mortgage ad you see pictured. 50 months @ 5.0% definitely one of the best rates in the city.

If you’re someone who’s interested in the happenings of Hamilton then you probably make sure to grab a copy of View Magazine every week, and you hopefully noticed the half page colour ad that HCCU has posted in the Y-works section. View Magazine is a free newsprint that comes out Every Thursday containing information that’s important to Hamiltonians. Being a paper that is coveted by the youth of Hamilton, HCCU took the opportunity to promote the newest product released from our lending department, Student Loans and Lines of Credit. Something many student and parents have been asking HCCU for.

For more information on either of these two new products click the images to be direct to our website or contact either of our branches and one of our staff would be more than happy to assist you.

That’s all for now.

HCCU Road Hockey Tourney

2008-06-06T13:41:00.002-04:00

Things in the NHL wrapped on Wednesday night with the Pittsburgh Penguins losing out to a better Red Wing team. I must say, I was pulling a bit for Sid the Kid. Especially considering that if Balsillie had gotten his way those could have been our Hamilton Penguins in the Stanley Cup Finals.

Regardless Hockey lives on in the steel city, but it will be off the ice and on to the paved parking lot of Limeridge Mall this Saturday, staring your very own HCCU staff.

Yes this weekend HCCU will be involved in a charity road hockey tournament, facing off against 20 other teams including other credit unions, credit union service providers, and local businesses teams all to raise money for the CHML Y108 Children’s Fund and for Kids Can Fly, both local charities that support the children in our community.

The tournament is expected to raise over $5000 for the charities and begins June 7th from 8:00 – 6:00 at the Limeridge Mall Parking Lot. HCCU will be playing at least 3 games and depending on our record, we may play a fourth or fifth game. Expect to see us in that fifth game and let’s hope we fair a little better than those Penguins

So come on out and cheer us on and see what the festivities have to offer. Games are scheduled for 9:30, 10:30 and 11:30.

Go HCCU Go!

HCCU Releases a New Website

2008-05-29T14:31:00.009-04:00

On June 6th HCCU will be launching their newly designed website and I must say I’m extremely excited about this release. The new website, which will still be located at www.hccu.on.ca has be designed to be information rich and user friendly all while helping to bring important information to you, our members.

Of course the look and feel of the site is a drastic change from our current one. Just click on either image for a larger look and you will see it's a more modern approach to your Credit Union, but still contains that comfortable, personal touch. The first thing you’ll notice is the large information space currently dominated by the "There's no Wii in Win" campaign. This section will be a rotating gateway to new products and promotions from HCCU. See something that catches your eye, but has rotated past to the next offer? You’ll be able to click on the smaller image boxes located below the main display to lock on to that product and read more about it.

Beside our rotating product display will be three important features of the new web site. One is our ever popular quick rates, giving you the up to date information on the current Prime Rate, US Exchange rates as well as our loan mortgage and deposit rates. It’ll also contain a link to all of the Credit Union’s product rates, just as our current Quick Rates does. Below that you’ll find the "Mention it to Malcolm" box. Here you’ll have a direct link to our CEO Malcolm Stoffman where you can share any concerns, questions or praise you may have regarding the HCCU. Below that will be our HCCU 2.0 section. This includes a link to our HCCU Blog, and to our new Facebook group, where if you have a Facebook account you can sign up to receive HCCU updates and promotions directly to your profile. We expect some exciting things to come from both these developments.

Above the rotating product display is the file folder menu bar. Here you`ll find a link to everything that has to do with HCCU. Under "Personal Financial Services" you`ll find links to all your day to day credit union needs like account information, loan and mortgage info, and the ability to apply for any account or lending product online.

Under the "About HCCU" is where you’ll find more information about us the Credit Union. Things like our contact information, hours of operation, and a history of the credit union.

Finally, Under "Tools and Resources" you’ll find information on are partners, current and archived newsletters, financial calculators, and online applications to many of our products.

Of course, we know the primary reason to visit the HCCU website is to access your online banking, which is why we`ve placed a bright green button in the top right of every page that will take you directly to the log in screen so you can access your account with ease.

As you can see there has been a lot of work on developing this site with you in mind. We hope you like the new feel of the HCCU online experience and look forward to your feedback.

Answer #4 – Lawyer's Fees and Closing Costs

2008-05-22T16:12:00.003-04:00

We’ve come to the end of our journey through mortgages and by now you’ve seen that there is a lot of information to take in and it’s best to talk to a professional, like our Sarah did, in order to get the best advice.

So when it came to answering questions regarding closing costs, and lawyers fees we went to a professional we trust, Peter Dudzic of Dudzic Law, to get you the right answers.

“Closing costs are comprised of numerous fees, once your lawyer receives instructions for your new mortgage, the property is searched, the mortgage is prepared in electronic format, fire insurance confirmation obtained, tax information obtained, mortgage payout statements will be obtained, they will attend to the clients to sign and attend to the registration of the mortgage. Fees are $500.00 plus GST and disbursements of approximately $450.00 comprised of sub searches, execution search, tax certificate, register mortgage, register discharges, miscellaneous (cheque certification, photo copies faxes etc.) Title insurance is required and Land Transfer Tax will make up the majority of your costs and the amount varies with each property. The total rough estimate is approximately 1.5% of your purchase price.”

For more information regarding lawyer’s fees you can reach Peter Dudzic of Dudzic law office at 905-528-4251 or at peter@dudziclaw.com

This wraps the answers to our mortgage survey. Of course, if you have any additional questions about what we’ve covered or would like information on something we didn’t covered please feel free to contact either of our resident mortgage professionals.

At our Mohawk Branch - Kathy Gordon – 905-383-3395 ext 103 or kgordon@hccu.on.ca

At our King St Branch – Anita Williamson – 905-529-9445 ext 107 or awilliamson@hccu.on.ca

Answer #3 - Who is CMHC?

2008-05-12T15:13:00.000-04:00

In our last post we touched on what is required by a down payment, but many of us just don’t have the 20% to put down on the purchase of a house. That is when we turn to CMHC – Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. So who exactly is CMHC?

According to their website, “Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) is Canada's national housing agency. We are committed to helping Canadians access a wide choice of quality, affordable homes, while making vibrant, healthy communities and cities a reality across the country. CMHC works to enhance Canada's housing finance options, assist Canadians who cannot afford housing in the private market, improve building standards and housing construction, and provide policymakers with the information and analysis they need to sustain a vibrant housing market in Canada.”

What does this mean to you, who is looking for a mortgage. Basically CMHC insures your mortgage for a premium allowing you to purchase a home without the full 20% down payment.

The premium charge from CMHC depends on the % of your down payment. 5% down is 2.75%, 10% is 2% and 15% is 1.75%, this premium can be added to your mortgage & is a onetime fee. Eg: a mortgage of $100,000 with 5% down would be $95,000, your CMHC premium of 2.75% added to the mortgage is $2,612.50 bringing your total mortgage to $97,612.50

Answer #2 – Requirements of a Down Payment

2008-05-06T14:14:00.001-04:00

In the second part of our response to our Mortgage Survey, we are going to take a look at the Requirements of a Down Payment? For this we’ve gone to our resident expert, and HCCU’s Manager of Lending, Anita Williamson.

“The minimum down payment requirement is 5% which would be a high ratio CMHC (Canada Mortgage & Housing Corporation) insured mortgage. To avoid this cost a conventional mortgage requirement is 20% down. Source of funding would be cash from own resources, sale of property, gift, or an RSP if you’re a first time buyer.”

Thanks Anita, and if you have any additional questions regarding a Down Payment or any other lending question, Anita can be reached at our King St. Branch at 905-529-9445 or by e-mail at awilliamson@hccu.on.ca You can also reach Kathie Gordon at our Mohawk Rd. branch at 905-383-3395 or kgordon@hccu.on.ca

Stay tuned for more answers to our Mortgage Survey.

Answer #1 - Mortgage Insurance

2008-04-29T09:55:00.001-04:00

First off, let me start by saying thanks for all your participation in our little survey on Mortgages. That is exactly the type of feedback we’re looking for from our members, as communication can not only help you but help us as well.

By the looks of things there seems to be a bit of apprehension in all the aspects of searching out the perfect mortgage for your home purchase, so over the next couple weeks we’ll be taking time to answer all your questions.

We’re going to start with Mortgage Insurance and work our way from there, and for this we contacted our Credit Union’s CUMIS representative Shelley Brown, and asked her what type of insurance is available.

“We offer insurance protection on all of our mortgages. Our members are able to protect themselves with Life, Critical Illness, Sickness and Accident Coverage and Loss of Employment Coverage. This coverage can be applied for at any time during your mortgage, so if you have not protected yourselves, please contact HCCU’s Mortgage Department for more information.”

Thanks Shelley! And like she said if you’re looking for more information feel free to comment below or contact our mortgage department at either branch.

Don’t forget to check back in a few days for more answers to your mortgage questions.

A Mortgage Survey

2008-04-10T12:39:00.006-04:00

With the snow disappearing from the front lawns of homes, many of you will begin the search for that perfect home of your own. HCCU is interested in knowing where the trepidation may lie so we can help you through this important process. Please take a quick second to complete the survey so that we can start providing some answers in the coming weeks.

more at twiigs.com...

We thank you for your time. If there’s something we missed please feel free to comment, and remember to check back in the coming weeks for some answers to your questions.

Our First Interview

2008-03-27T16:23:00.002-04:00

One of our very own, who had recently become engaged, has just finalized the deal on buying her first home. We sat down with HCCU Office Supervisor Sarah Dunsmuir to ask how she and her fiancé found the experience of buying their first house.

Let me begin by saying congratulations. How does it feel to be a first time home buyer? Exciting! I’m really looking forward to the Freedom and Independence that comes with owning my own home.

How long were you in the market for? We had been talking about getting our own place for about a year now, but we started our actual shopping three months ago and finally found a place that suits our needs.

What kind of planning was involved in the process? To begin with we had to figure out how we could afford such a thing. We both were carrying some personal debt and didn’t have anything set aside for a down payment. These were all things we knew we’d require.

Who helped you with all the decisions around home ownership? Well we first talked to a mortgage representative at the Credit Union. She told us what kind of deposit we would need to buy a house in the price range we were hoping for.

Did your family help you with any of the planning? To be honest they were just a pain. Just kidding, they did provide moral support along the way.

How were you able to save up the down payment? The first step was taking a look at our current situation. We were able to consolidate all our debt with a personal loan through the Credit Union. This eliminated both our car loans and the two credit cards we had. Then we cancelled the one card to keep spending under control. This freed up a lot of income to use towards our savings and helped eliminate some of our debt so we could qualify for the mortgage. We then laid out a budget for our spending and began to put aside every extra penny.

What other costs are you expecting? Well we’ve all ready put the down payment towards the house. We know we have lawyer’s fees, and since we’re only putting down 5% of the purchase price as a down payment we have our fee to CMHC (Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation). That will get us in the door, then we start saving to furnish the place.

Any advice for others in your position? Save early and save often. I can’t stress that enough. Also keep credit to a minimum. Especially the high interest credit cards. That kind of debt should be consolidated immediately.

Thanks Sarah, and Good luck with the new home.

If you have any questions regarding home ownership please, comment below or contact us here at the HCCU and we’d be happy to help.

HCCU is Handing Out iPods

2008-03-13T10:45:00.007-04:00

There are quite a few things that I associate with the coming of spring. There’s the first exposure of muddy grass on everyone’s front lawns. There’s that final dump of snow that always seems to be the big one. Let’s hope what I’m referring to can be the one we just experienced. Of course there are the chirping birds, and the budding trees, and the streets packed with people on that first moderately warm day all dressed like they’re strutting down the promenades of South Beach. And then there is the HCCU Spring Raffle, which is once again upon us.

The HCCU Spring Raffle is always one of our biggest fundraisers generating more than $15,000 for the Cancer Assistance Program over the past 10 years.

During those years we’ve given away such prizes as Barbeques, Patio Sets, Bicycles, Tiger-Cat Tickets, Spa Packages and this year, to keep with the theme of modernization, we have two iPod Nano’s to give away.

We’ll also have a few additional prizes made up of Tim Horton’s Gift Certificates.

All of these prizes have been bought by the Credit Union and donated to the raffle so that all of the proceeds go directly to the Cancer Assistance Program to assist in their amazing cause.

As usual tickets are $2.00 each or 5 for $5.00 with the draw to be held on Thursday May 1st.

So get yourself in to the office and score yourself a chance to win. But cross your fingers cause you’ll have to be luckier than me.

2008-02-19T14:37:00.001-05:00

In two weeks time is our Annual Meeting and if you’ve never been this is definitely the year to attend.

Why you ask?

Fist off the Annual Meeting is an important part of the Credit Union’s democratic existence. It is where you the members can vote on who sits on your Board of Directors. The Board of Directors is a crucial element to any Credit Union as they are charged with the conduct and management of its affairs.

You yourself can also run for a position on the Board if so inclined.

Secondly, you get to learn a bit about how your Credit Union is operating. You get to hear from your Credit Union managers on how we preformed throughout the fiscal year. You’ll hear from both our internal auditors and external auditors on what their reporting has found. It gives you a chance to ask any questions you have regarding where your Credit Union is heading. Any concerns you may have on the present or future.

Thirdly, you’ll get to be introduced to our new General Manager Malcolm Stoffman, and hear from him where he sees your Credit Union heading.

Last but not least, as with everything relating to your Credit Union, it’s a warm and friendly atmosphere, including food and refreshments, gifts and prizes including a cash prize of $100!

We’d love to see you out there. If you do plan to attend or if you have any questions regarding the Annual Meeting leave a little note in the comments below.

HCCU Annual Meeting – Tuesday, March 4th 2008 beginning at 7pm at Liuna Station. 360 James St N. Hamilton ON

A Little Credit Union Humour

2008-02-06T12:29:00.000-05:00

Considering the poor weather we've had these last few days we thought we'd brighten your day with a little Credit Union humour.

Click the banner below to see a spoof on the famous Mac vs. PC ads with a Credit Union twist.

Reminds us of a certain Participation Rebate.

The Exchange Network

2008-01-31T14:34:00.000-05:00

There appears to be some questions regarding exactly how The Exchange network works, and what the costs are to our members. Let me take the time to explain things in a little more detail than what is on our website.

First off, there is a cost involved with every Interac transaction. When dealing with a Point of Sale transaction such as making a purchase at a store, the cost is minimal. The transaction is routed from the store, to the switch (for us a company called Threshold) and then to us. The switch charges a service fee to us for this transaction as does the Interac association.
Shared Cash transactions or withdrawals at a bank machine cost a little more. The route the transaction takes getting to the switch can be a little more involved and we are charged more for each transaction.

The charges to your Credit Union from Interac and Threshold represent the fees you see on your account whenever you use your debit card. You are charged .30¢ for each Point of Sale transaction and $1.25 for each Shared Cash transaction to offset what the Credit Union pays to provide this service. Those fees are not revenue generating for us.

In addition to these costs most bank machines that you would use to withdrawal funds from also charge you a fee. This fee is incorporated in to your withdrawal amount. Let’s say you withdrawal $80 from a TD Canada Trust machine. Your Credit Union Account will most likely read the following:

Jan 31 - IAF - $1.25
Jan 31 - IAW - $81.50

That extra $1.50 in the withdrawal amount is what you were charged by TD to use their machine.

This is where The Exchange comes in. If you were to repeat that exact transaction on a machine displaying The Exchange logo, your statement would read the following.

Jan 31 - IAF - $1.25
Jan 31 - IAW - $80.00

You are still charged the $1.25 to use your debit card, but you’re not charged any additional fees by the machine you are using.

This service is available all across Canada and at many locations throughout the USA. However, any Interac transaction done outside of Canada will result in a fee of $3.00 rather than the $1.25.

The Exchange also offers the ability to make deposits in to your HCCU account from any bank machine that accepts deposits displaying their logo. The deposits are received instantly and this is all available with your current blue HCCU Interac card.

I hope this clears up any confusion, but if you have any question please direct them to the comment section below and I’ll respond as soon as possible.

Participation Rebate

2008-01-24T14:59:00.000-05:00

It was New Years Eve and we were gathered around the systems main computer. The Board of Directors had given us a target that we knew we would be close to, but until you can look at some of the December month-end reports you never know exactly what kind of participation rebate can be offered. We hoped for the best.

The participation rebate is something everybody loves about the HCCU - Especially the employees. Once you get a full understanding, once you see how it works and see how much money is paid back to the members, how can you not. I think the staff especially appreciates it since they’re all members and get to reap the benefits of banking with the HCCU. They too, like every member paying or receiving interest within their account, like to see some extra money on December 31st.

The final ledger and balance sheet came off the printer like a hot part on an assembly line and worked its way from the back office to the hands of our General Manager and Manager of Finance.

Numbers were crunched

Beads of sweat wiped from brows.

That equal button was hit and the results were in.

12% would be the rebate. Another astounding return.

And with that I hit a few keys and divided almost half a million dollars amongst our loyal members.

Welcome

2008-01-18T12:02:00.000-05:00

Come in, come in. Welcome to the HCCU blog. It is my honour and privilege to introduce you to this new aspect of the Credit Union. Now I’m sure many of you have heard of a blog. It’s been mentioned in every paper, magazine, and news cast over the last few years. It was even deemed the word of the year in 2004. But you still may be asking what is a blog exactly.

Well blog is short for web log, and is a journal written by one or many, posted online for the users of the world wide web to view. Blogs can be used to provide commentary or news on a particular subject, or as a more personal online diary. They can be made up of text, pictures, videos, and links to other pertinent information.

So what does a blog have to do with your Credit Union?

A blog provides a unique forum that all have access to where we can relate to one another. It provides a place where we can bring you inside the Credit Union environment and communicate on the behind the scenes. We can keep you up to date on the day to day, and help you get to know your Credit Union on a more personal level. And with the ability for readers to leave comments being an important part of a blog, we’ll be able to connect in a way not possible before.

In a word, a blog has the power to bring community to The Hamilton Community Credit Union.

I look forward to this experience. I hope you do too.