Unity Credit Union scholarshiprecipientsCongratulations to graduates Kyle Boweyand Dustin Wallace for being recipients ofour 2012 grad scholarships. Each received$2,000 to be used towards pursuing post-secondary education.
Dress Down Donation to UnityFire Department
Trena Klein presentsdress down proceedsof $1,570 to GlennKlein, Deputy Chieffor Unity Rural FireDepartment.
Saskatchewan
Credit Unions
2012 is the 75th anniversary of thefirst credit union in Saskatchewan.In 1937, Regina Hebrew Savingsand Credit Union was incorporated,followed by Moose Jaw, Star-Phoenix Savings, Sherwood,Regina Wheat Pool Employees’and Sacred Heart Parish creditunions. Most have gone on toamalgamate, but are still with ustoday under different names. Moreimportantly, their spirit of‘neighbours helping neighbours tohelp themselves’ has endured andexpanded beyond what theirfounders could have imagined.
Today, Saskatchewan credit unionsare world class financial institutionswith assets of over $16 billion,serving more than half a millionmembers, and are among the mostreliable and stable financialinstitutions in the world. Theirsupport of communities andfamilies has helped raiseSaskatchewan to become a vibrantand growing province with anenviable economy.
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A NEWSLETTER FOR CREDIT UNION MEMBERS
FALL 2012 FALL 2012
FALL 2012
C U in the Community!
From the Big Chair
Unity Credit Union
120 – 2nd Avenue EastBox 370Unity, SK S0K 4L0
Phone: 306-228-2688Fax: 306-228-2185
Monday - Thursday 9:30 a.m. -4 p.m.Friday 9:30 a.m. - 5 p.m.Saturday 9 a.m. - 1 p.m.
www.unitycu.caEmail: [email protected]
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UCU’s newest staff members
Matched donations forRadiographyUnity Credit Union donated $15,485 tothe Unity Health Care Foundation fortheir Computerized Radiography. Thedonation amount matched all personalcommunity donations from May 1 untilJune 30.
Megan Schweitzer presents cheque to BobCumming, Chairman of the Unity HealthCare Foundation.”■
Farewell Gwen and Nora
In June we bid farewell to GwenFrantik, our Wealth Services Officerand Nora Aldred, our Loans Clerk.
Gwen was with Unity Credit Union foralmost 17 years, and has decided to pursue
a new venture managing the TravelShoppe. Nora was with us for almost fiveyears, and has started a new position atDr. Clark’s office. We wish them both thebest in their new endeavours. ■
Saskatchewan creditunions have beenserving members for 75
years! A lot has changed inthe world and among creditunions during that time.However, a few key
principles have been maintained. Theseinclude commitment to community, payingpatronage and local decision making.
Patronage payments – Patronage, dividendsand equity are three words that arecommonly used to describe the benefits ofmembership in Unity Credit Union. One ofthe International Co-operative Principles isMember Economic Participation, whichrefers to members not only receivingcompetitive rates on loans and deposits, butalso sharing in the surplus generated by thecredit union. Unity Credit Union returnsoperating surplus to members using aformula based on the amount of loans anddeposits you have with us. The morebusiness you conduct, the larger your shareof the surplus.
We use a two-fold process to pay patronageto members. A portion is paid to themember directly and a portion is retained inan equity account in the member’s name.This portion builds until the memberreaches $10,000 in this account or age 65,when the member receives the full equityallocation for the year. At age 65, themember also receives the $10,000 in theequity account (or whatever amount hasaccumulated). Being a member of UnityCredit Union truly pays!
Local decision making – Local decisionmaking is another way credit unionsdifferentiate themselves. When creditunions were established, directors were veryinvolved in the daily operations of the creditunion through involvement on committees.Over the years, the focus has changed.Today, directors of Unity Credit Union areonly involved in setting strategic directionfor the credit union, developing risk appetiteand risk tolerances, and developing policiesbased on these concepts. Loan decisions aremade by our lenders. Our board is nevermade aware of a member’s loan or depositportfolio as that is not their focus. This
direction is set by local people, not by peoplefar away who may or may not know what isgoing on in the local area and economy.
For 75 years, credit unions have been therefor their local people. Throughout thoseyears, boards of directors have madedecisions to continue to serve membersthrough tough economic times, challenges,and now thriving times. If you want toquestion a policy or direction, you know thepeople you need to approach. If you wish tochange the direction, you can approach adirector or nominate and vote for a personof your choice.
Commitment to community, sharing inoperating surpluses and decisions made bylocal people - three principles that haveserved credit unions and communities wellthroughout the last 75 years and will intothe future. We ask that you keep these inmind when you require service. May the weather co-operate to allow abountiful harvest! ■Gerald HautaGeneral Manager
Kyle Bowey will be attending the U of Sin Engineering.
Dustin Wallace will be attending LakelandCollege for Environmental Sciences.
Rajbir Trana – Hello,my name is RajbirTrana and I am thenew Administrationand IT Support Co-ordinator. I am
originally from India and moved to Canadathree years ago. Initially moving to Toronto,I also lived in Winnipeg and Saskatoonbefore moving to Unity. Most of myeducation was completed in India, includinga Bachelor’s Degree in Mathematics &Computers and Master’s in Tourism & HotelManagement. I came to Canada as aMarketing Management student and decidedto stay. I grew up in a small independentsection of a city in India, approximately thesame size as Unity but with a population of10,000 people. I enjoy the peace and quietin Unity and being able to walk to work. Ithoroughly enjoy working at Unity CreditUnion and it is great to be part of the team.
Megan Schweitzer –Hi, my name isMegan Schweitzer andI am the newMarketing Co-ordinator. I grew up
on a farm near Eston, SK where my parentsfarm and manage a marketing company. Ibegan my post-secondary education atQueen’s University in Kingston, Ontariobefore deciding to continue my degree inSaskatoon. This spring I completed myBachelor of Commerce degree, with a majorin Marketing, from the U of S. Eager tofind a marketing position close to home, andalso in rural Saskatchewan, I was thrilled tobe awarded this position. I am excited to bea part of the Unity Credit Union team andalso to return to my rural roots. Unity is awonderful community and I look forward togetting more involved and to meet all ofyou!
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Compromised computer? Clean it before headingonline again
Help us celebrate International Credit UnionDay October 18
Each year on the third Thursday ofOctober, credit unions and theiremployees, directors and members
celebrate International Credit Union Day.The day is an opportunity to recognizeand celebrate the contributions co-operative financial institutions make to thecommunities they serve.
This year, International Credit Union Dayfalls on Thursday, October 18. This year’scelebration is particularly noteworthybecause it takes place during the UnitedNations International Year of Co-operatives. To mark the occasion, creditunions throughout Saskatchewan, Canadaand the rest of the world will berecognizing how credit unions build abetter world.
Here in Saskatchewan, you don’t have tolook very far to see evidence of how creditunions build a better world. In 2010(2011 figures not yet available),Saskatchewan credit unions committed$7.8 million to growing communities.They also committed $804,000 and91,000 volunteer hours to communityorganizations. ■
Little Black Book of Scams offers tips for avoidingfraudsters of all kinds
Co-operatives score big with Canadians
As the International Year of Co-operatives rolls on, a recent surveycommissioned by the Canadian
Co-operative Association (CCA) revealedthat Canadians say co-operatives providebetter customer service than other types ofbusinesses, treat their employees better,have more environmentally sustainablepractices, and support community valuesand the local economy.
When comparing co-ops — includingcredit unions — with other businesses:• 84% said co-ops are more likely to
support the community’s values
• 83% said co-ops are more likely to give people a say in how the business is run
• 82% said co-ops are more likely to support the local economy
• 76% said co-ops are likely to treat their employees better
• 72% said co-ops are more likely to have environmentally sustainable practices
• 70% said co-ops are likely to have bettercustomer service
Check out the full survey results atwww.s.coop/coopsurvey2012. ■
Having your home computer hacked issomething no one wants to experience.Unfortunately it does happen from time totime. If your computer is compromised,there are certain things you should dobefore venturing online with it again.
This is particularly important before youconduct any online banking. Follow thesesteps to ensure your computer is safe totake online again:
New passwordsChange your passwords to all financial orother critical sites immediately (andfrequently) using a safe computer notnormally used to conduct bankingactivities. Using a different computerminimizes, if not eliminates, the chancesof the fraudsters gaining the newlyupdated password information.
A clean PCStop accessing financial sites from thecompromised computer until:1. you’ve reported this to police (it is
fraud)2. you’ve taken steps to clean the PC that
was compromised by having a software company:
• ‘clean’ the computer to ensure it’s free ofall unauthorized programs
• confirm that all virus protection and firewall software is updated to its most recent version
• report in writing all unauthorized software found, the action taken and that the virus protection software is current and up to date ■
The Competition Bureau of Canadarecently published a handycompendium of some of the most
popular types of scams people fall victimto. The Little Black Book of Scams, isdesigned to help people avoid becomingvictims of fraud and includes descriptionsof the most popular scams and ways youcan protect yourself from them. Amongthe types of scams the book covers are:
• internet scams• mobile phone scams • charity scams• pyramid schemes
To download a copy of The Little BlackBook of Scams, go to:http://www.competitionbureau.gc.ca/eic/site/cb-bc.nsf/vwapj/Little-Black-Book-Scams-e.pdf/$FILE/Little-Black-Book-Scams-e.pdf. ■ P
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Is a penny saved still a penny earned?
When the Harper governmentannounced earlier this year thatit was phasing out the penny, it
raised the question of what Canadiansshould do with all those pennies they havein jars and drawers.
Earlier this summer Finance Minister JimFlaherty announced that the RoyalCanadian Mint will officially stopcirculation of pennies as of February 13,
2013. The government is eliminating thepenny due to rising cost of producing thecoin and the handling costs it imposes onretailers, financial institutions and theeconomy in general. It’s been estimatedthat eliminating the penny will savetaxpayers $11 million a year.
If you’re sitting on a pile of saved pennies,it will retain its value indefinitely and cancontinue to be used in payments. Keep in
mind, however, that all cash transactionswill soon be rounded to the nearest five-cent increment. Electronic transactions,such as those with credit and debit cards,as well as cheques, will not need to berounded.
The government says the February 13,2013 transition date will allow businessesto train staff and give charities time tohold dedicated ‘penny drive’ campaigns. ■
