March 23, 2007

Gary Lowes, Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer of Credit Union Central of Canada, has been elected Vice-Chair of the Board of Interac Association. 

Interac is a national organization that links enterprises with proprietary networks so that they may exchange financial transactions. Each year it handles millions of ATM transactions and direct payment transactions at merchants across the country.

Canadian Central represents the national credit union system as one of the more than 80 members of the Interac Association.

“I look forward to playing a significant role as a representative of the credit union system on the Interac Board in developing the strategic direction of the Association,” Lowes said.

Lowes added, “Interac is entering a period of significant change as the Association faces a number of issues and opportunities,” he added. “The challenges include the migration to chip card technology, which brings implementation complexity and the difficulty in dealing with debit card fraud during the move to chip cards. The success of these initiatives will shape the future of Interac.”

In addition to this new role, Lowes is chair of the Interac Association’s Audit Committee.  He is also a member of the Board of Acxsys Corporation.  The shareholders of Acxsys Corporation are the architects of the Interac shared services. Acxsys Corporation specializes in the development and operation of new payment service opportunities and management services in the field of electronic payments.  Canadian Central represents the credit union system at the Acxsys board table, alongside the major Canadian banks and Desjardins.

Prior to joining Canadian Central, Lowes was President of Citi Commerce Solutions (subsidiary of Citigroup) for seven years and spent two years as Director of Finance at Canadian Tire Financial Services.

Lowes has a Bachelor of Arts from McMaster University and an MBA from the Schulich School of Business at York University. He is also a Certified Management Accountant (CMA).

For more information contact:
Art Chamberlain
Manager Media and Public Relations
(416) 232-3466