IC Savings & Credit Union

The IC Savings Story

IC Savings was established in part by a belief that the changes occurring in the banking system today will inevitably leave voids in the market-place that community based financial institutions could fill. These changes saw the big banks take over Trust Companies and Securities Brokers and saw them propose to merge with each other.

A group of people from different backgrounds came together in a steering committee in 1997, who would share a vision to create a new credit union focused on the Italian Community. Italian Canadian Savings & Credit Union Limited was subsequently chartered in April 2000.

The Steering Committee Members were: Nick Barbieri, Paolo Canciani, Sam Ciccolini, Alex De Iulis, Fausto Gaudio, Robert J. Gray, James Mizzoni, Frank Petti, Walter Tracogna, Bill Perkins, Marisa Zanini, John Zingaro.

With a population of over 310,000 by the 1995 census, the Italian community is among the largest ethnic populations in the GTA. Older Italian Canadians can probably be counted among the biggest savers in Canada. Like many other Europeans, they are comfortable having money in the bank.

It’s simple, they understand it, and they trust it. Italian Canadians have historically purchased real estate, probably more so than most. Among the important priorities for new immigrants of Italian origin were to start small businesses, buy a home and invest for the future, likely in real estate.

We felt that the traditional banking system did not always deal with some of the characteristics of the community very well:

• Banks have typically had difficulties in financing real estate for small business people because these people don’t generally meet the banks’ rigid lending criteria. • Bank branch managers usually don’t have the authority to make exception decisions.
• Banks have recently adopted automated credit approval systems that make it virtually impossible for them to deal personally with small business people around their personal credit requirements.
• Small investment properties have traditionally fallen off the radar screen for banks. Their commercial centres won’t entertain deals that are for less than $500 thousand to $1million, and their consumer branches can’t entertain them by policy.

In addition, people are generally dissatisfied with service levels at banks and that can only worsen as branches consolidate and services are centralized.

We felt that we could do better by understanding the profiles and expectations of the community and reflecting that understanding in investment and credit policies, and underwriting standards.

We saw a unique opportunity to do things differently. A credit union would open a whole new system of banking in a community that had largely not participated in Canadian co-operative banking.

In soliciting involvement from people in the community, many would ask, “why now? …“we could have used a credit union 40 years ago”. But generally, people agreed that there is importance and significance to having a local banking institution in an environment of bank mergers and branch closures.

We knew that personal service had to be part of the formula that would differentiate us from the big banks. We opened our premises offering a full range of savings products with superior rates, and the security of the Deposit Insurance Corporation of Ontario. Our investment products, such as our Index Linked Term Deposits are supported by Credit Union Central of Ontario and have all of the sophistication of investment products offered at the larger financial institutions.

Our people are experienced professionals in the financial services industry and have strong lending experience. They are leaders who have an interest in creating something special, who have experience and an understanding of the local community and economy.