Credit Unions will no longer be able to call themselves banks
Credit Unions across Canada will soon need to drop the terms “bank”, “banker”, and “banking” from their vocabulary.
After noticing the growing trend of non-bank financial providers using banking terms, The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) has decided to put their foot down. In a post made on their website, the OSFI stated that trust and loan companies, and other unregulated financial service providers may no longer use the terms “bank”, “banker”, and “banking” in relation to their business.
"It is important that consumers know when they are dealing with a bank rather than another type of financial service provider," said a federal finance official in an email to CBC News. "Allowing non-banks to use banking-related words (e.g. bank, banker and banking) could mislead consumers into believing that they are dealing with a federally regulated bank that is subject to protections and obligations created by the federal banking framework."
Credit Unions are not exactly happy about the change. President and CEO of Credit Union Atlantic, Marie Mullally, stated that removing the terms from their business is going to cost millions. Credit Union Atlantic’s slogan is "The better way to bank", and is featured on the majority of their signage.
"What would be the word banking? You wouldn't say credit unioning," said Mullally. "It's quite frankly ridiculous."
A timeline has been put in place give Credit Unions around the country time to remove the terms from their promotional materials. Those done in print must be completed by June 30th, 2018, and signage must be changed by June 30th, 2019.