Credit Unions get good marks

For the ninth consecutive year, Canadians ranked credit unions first in overall Customer Service Excellence among all financial institutions in the 2013 Ipsos® Best Banking Awards. Credit unions also took sole honours in two other categories: Branch Service Excellence and Values My Business.

"There truly is a 'credit union difference' and our members experience it every day," said David Phillips, President & CEO, Credit Union Central of Canada. "Canadian credit unions and caisses populaires never lose sight of what is most important: our dedication to meeting the individual needs of our over 5.3 million members. We know that Canadians value the friendly, top quality service they receive from credit unions and this survey confirms what we hear from them," added Phillips.

Survey results show that credit unions took sole honours in Branch Service Excellence for the 9th year in a row and Values My Business for the 6th year in a row. They also tied for first place in the following categories among all financial institutions:

Financial Planning & Advice;

Mobile Banking Excellence;

Automated Telephone Banking Excellence; and

Live Agent Telephone Banking Excellence

Credit unions have been recognized for Financial Planning & Advice since 2010.

"With well over a hundred years of service, Canadian credit unions remain dedicated to a co-operative movement that brings innovative ideas, products and services to their communities, as well as an exceptionally strong commitment to social responsibility and sustainability," added Phillips.

The Ipsos 2013 Best Banking Awards are based on quarterly Customer Service Index (CSI) survey results. Sample size for the total 2013 CSI program year ended August 2013 was 45,875 completed surveys yielding 69,268 financial institution ratings.

Credit Union Central of Canada (Canadian Central) is the national trade association for the Canadian credit union system. Canadian Central represents five provincial/regional Centrals and one Federation representing 336 credit unions with more than $156.4 billion in assets and serving 5.3 million members, outside of Quebec.

For more information about Canada's credit union system and Canadian Central, visit www.cucentral.ca.