focusinterview.
CREDIT UNION O F
T H E
Y E A R
BCU’S STORY IS AN INSPIRING ONE. ESTABLISHED BY THE LOCAL BANANA GROWERS OF MACKSVILLE IN THE EARLY SEVENTIES, IT IS NOW ONE OF THE LEADING CREDIT UNIONS IN THE COUNTRY AND HAS RECENTLY BEEN AWARDED MONEY MAGAZINE’S CREDIT UNION OF THE YEAR FOR 2016.
Left to Right: Jeleina Towler, Terri Murphy, Ashlee Walker
M
oney Magazine is the longest running, highest selling and most-read personal finance magazine in Australia. Runner up in 2015, bcu has risen to top spot this year in Money’s prestigious Credit Union of the Year category. bcu’s Chief Executive, Lyndon Kingston, describes the win as a huge honour. “There are some great financial institutions in the running for this award offering some fantastic products, and for bcu to top the list is a testament to bcu’s staff,” he said. “We are proud of all of our products and services as we believe they offer value, which is what we strive to achieve for our customers. This award helps support our commitment to providing trusted banking to customers at every stage of their life.” Mitchell Watson, group manager, research and ratings at Canstar said, “This outcome for bcu is recognition of consistently delivering relevant products with fair fees to their customers.” Watson believes the product line that stands out for bcu is its home loans. “It is currently advertising extremely competitive rates for its one, three and five year fixed loans,” he says. According to Watson, bcu also has a great rewards credit card. “The Rewarder offers one of the simplest credit card rewards programmes in the market. The interest rate of 16.8%pa on purchases and cash advances is far below that of its competitors.” Terri Murphy, Store Supervisor from bcu’s Coffs Harbour branch said, “We were thrilled to receive the Money Magazine award. It gives our customers the assurance that they are banking with a brand they can trust. Our aim is
to continue to attract more customers to take advantage of our great value products.” Kingston said that while bcu can’t be the best in every product, “We strive to offer genuine value across all of our products and across a customer’s life with bcu, as opposed to offering value in one product only, or for a short period of time.” Another example of bcu’s value products is its Scoot’s super saver account, encouraging young people to save. With no monthly fees and bonus interest, kids can earn up to 3.5%pa when they deposit $20 or more a month. Scoot is bcu’s children’s programme mascot and helps promote the benefits of being a super saver to children across the region. Scoot regularly visits schools and day care centres to present the super saver financial literacy programme, educating children in a fun way about finances. “Our aim with this initiative is to encourage children to become money-wise and financially savvy to ensure a healthy, financial future,” said Kingston. From its humble beginnings almost 45 years ago, servicing the banana growers and dairy farmers of the Mid North Coast, bcu has now expanded to 23 stores from the Sunshine Coast to Port Macquarie, delivering quality and value to its customers, as is evident in its receipt of the respected Credit Union of the Year award. bcu’s flagship store at Park Beach Plaza, Coffs Harbour offers a new perspective on banking for all its members, with features such as a central café zone with complimentary coffee, dedicated internet area with iPads and iMacs for web surfing and a kids’ Scoot zone with touch screens and craft activities to keep the children entertained while you get down to business.
We are proud of all of our products and services as we r believe they offe t ha w is value, which e ev hi ac we strive to s.” er om st cu for our
“
coffs coast focus. 23