November 22, 2009
UTNE READER

A More Benevolent Mousetrap

(Page 6 of 6)

May / June 2006
By Andy Isaacson 
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Vancity
Democratic banking

The idea of a "triple bottom line" financial institution seems oxymoronic. Yet Vancouver's Vancity, a democratically run cooperative credit union with nearly $12 billion in assets, offers mortgages, investments, savings accounts, and insurance at 42 branches. And since the bank's roughly 330,000 customers also own the bank, their votes ensure that the institution offers favorable returns to its community and the environment without compromising financial returns.

Since 1945, when it started with the premise of "banking with the unbankable," Vancity has been one of Canada's most visionary companies. In the 1960s, for example, it was the first to offer loans to women without requiring a male cosigner. More recently, it became the first financial institution in the country to use 100 percent postconsumer wastepaper, and it has pledged to go "carbon neutral" -- emit no more greenhouse gases than it can offset -- by 2010.

Vancity also supports community members who want to make more ecologically sustainable choices. It was the first financial institution in Canada to offer special financing for hybrid automobiles and energy-efficient home renovations. Each year, it awards hundreds of grants worth between $500 and $1 million to community groups working for environmental and social justice.

And its innovative employee benefit program redefines the concept of worker friendly: When a branch is robbed, staff members get free massages.

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