The Exchange Network

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

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

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.