History of Gateway Co-operative Credit Union (2017) Ltd
GATEWAY CO-OPERATIVE Credit Union (2017) Ltd was formed from a merger of the Montego and Hanover Cooperative Credit Unions on January 3, 2017.
Montego Co-op Credit Union began from its humble beginnings in 1969 – operating out of St Paul’s Church on a four-hour per week basis; the Montego Bay Credit Union is truly a huge success story. It was formed from the amalgamation of two struggling financial entities, The St James and The St Paul’s Credit Unions. It was able to capitalise on each other’s gains and strengths to overcome their individual losses and weaknesses.
Hanover Co-op Credit Union started with the vision of Enid Watson Gonsalves during a discussion of the value of 10 cents, 20 cents and 25 cents by 10 persons in December 1974. The aim was to start a savings club towards the exchange of gifts for Christmas 1975. Through progressive and forward thinking, the group savings club was started
where persons were saving 20 cents per week. The club practised safety and soundness by investing the savings in a financial institution and kept its ledger and cash books. The United Church of Jamaica and Grand Cayman Church Hall was the meeting place for collection every Tuesday.
So it could have been destiny for these two credit unions to merge as they both started with a United Church background.
As a single entity, Gateway is now the fourth-largest credit union in Jamaica, boasting membership of approximately 70,000 and total assets of $6.1 billion. Not only has the fusion of the two credit unions resulted in a single robust unit, Gateway has come with numerous benefits for the more than 70,000 persons who make up its membership, which span the county of Cornwall (Trelawny, St James, Hanover, Westmoreland and St Elizabeth).
With less than six months into operation, Gateway is achieving healthy growth in membership, savings and loans, and is able to provide better services to its members by empowering them financially through a wider range of savings and loans – more products and services and branches to serve members, an increase in the use of technology, and better returns on investment.
In Hanover, Gateway operates at its new state-ofthe-art building on Main Street in Lucea; while in St James it operates two facilities, one at 6 Sam Sharpe Square and another at 20 Church Street in Montego Bay, which houses the credit, human resource and finance departments. There is one common transaction platform, so our members can do business from either the Montego Bay branch or in Lucea.
OUR VISION
To be the premier financial institution by empowering our members for success through innovative products and services.
MISSION
To empower our members by providing excellent service and sound financial guidance to create partnerships that will result in prudent, progressive and competitive business decisions, yielding mutual success.
TAGLINE
‘Opening The Way To Your Financial Success’.
CORE VALUES
We are open, honest, and accountable to our stakeholders. Team members are committed to the organisation’s success and sustainability. We actively engage in community development. We are committed to the social and economic development of our members. Team members’ well-being is highly valued. We foster a friendly and professional environment in which to conduct business. We celebrate success. We reward performance We see our members as family. We are committed to service excellence. We can be relied on for our financial stability and security.