Three Saskatchewan credit unions explore merger amid rising competition, regulatory headwinds
Three Saskatchewan credit unions are looking at potentially combining their operations to better serve customers and deal with a changing market.
On Wednesday, Conexus Credit Union announced they are beginning talks with Cornerstone Credit Union and Synergy Credit Union about coming together to form a single entity. If the three credit unions come to an agreement and get regulatory approval, the merger would create a single credit union with around $15 billion in assets under management and about 1,400 employees across Saskatchewan.
Conexus Credit Union board chair Ken Kosolofski said over the next number of months the three organizations will be working to put together a business case. He added credit unions are dealing with a competitive businesses environment which includes not only the Big Six banks but also new online financial platforms.
“If we can come together and combine here we have a chance against some of the competition,” he said.
Celina Philpot, chief executive of Conexus, said online platforms such as Wealthsimple Inc. and Neo Financial, which don’t have physical banking locations, have emerged to provide customers with an alternative to traditional banking. She added Saskatchewan has also proven to be an attractive jurisdiction for competing financial institutions due to its economy.
“We get a lot of attention from multiple financial institutions because of that practical sustainable growth that we have in our province,” she said.
Philpot said credit unions have also faced headwinds from a changing regulatory environment and the merged entity would be in a better position to deal with those pressures and offset costs.
“It is a cost for the credit union, there’s no revenue opportunity from any regulatory
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