September 18, 2006

Synovate survey finds credit unions tops in many areas

TORONTO – For the second year in a row an independent survey has found that credit unions rank higher than banks and other financial institutions in several customer service measures.

“There truly is a ‘credit union difference’ and our members experience it every day, whether they deal with us online, in person or by phone,” said David Phillips, Interim President & Chief Executive Officer of Credit Union Central of Canada. "We know that Canadians appreciate the friendly, top quality service they receive from credit unions and this survey confirms what we hear from them."

The 2006 Customer Service Index by Synovate found credit unions ranked highest in the following five categories among all financial institutions:

• Overall quality of customer service
• Staff service at “my” branch
• Information handling and communications
• Financial products and services
• Online banking

The Customer Service Index was developed based on a survey conducted between July 14 and August 25, 2006, using a nationally representative sample of more than 16,000 customers of credit unions, banks and other financial institutions across the country. The survey has been conducted annually since 1987.

Canada’s 521 credt unions serve 4.8 million members, control $88 billion in assets and employ more than 22,000 people. Credit unions are co-operative financial institutions owned by their member/customers.

For more information contact:

Art Chamberlain
Manager, Media Relations
chamberlaina@cucentral.com
416 232-3466