Credit union evolves to meet needs of its affluent members
Created in 1941 by fishermen, it now boasts assets of $4.3 billion
For a glimpse into how business operations can change as Canadian cities, businesses, and lifestyles have evolved, you need look no further than Blueshore Financial, which essentially owns the financial services business in Vancouver’s North Shore region.
Created in 1941 as the North Shore Credit Union by a handful of fishermen and marine workers (including one who registered while in housecoat and slippers), the co-operative has emerged as a template for successful boutique financial institutions everywhere.
Blueshore, its legal name since 2015, accomplished that evolution by recognizing and following changes in its constituency region, which now encompasses North Vancouver, West Vancouver, Squamish, and the 2010 Olympic venue of Whistler.
An outpost for fishing and small shipbuilding when the credit union started, the region has morphed into one of Canada’s wealthiest, a haven for B.C.’s managerial class where the median after-tax family income touches $98,000.
Yet for many years, Blueshore operated like any other credit union, which are popular in British Columbia, and tried to be all things small banking to their members.
However, credit unions usually lack the more sophisticated services that higher-income clients expect. And, as Chris Catliff, Blueshore’s chief executive, points out, its clients — who are also its owners — had evolved beyond the standard credit union profile. They were much richer and usually much more financially sophisticated than typical credit union members.
“Most of our members have different, more sophisticated financial needs (than those of regular credit unions),” Catliff explained. “For example, they would tell a typical financial institution ‘don’t sell me’ (as opposed to advising), because they know quite a bit themselves.”
Catliff and a supportive board hatched a plan six years ago to convert North Shore Credit Union’s thousands of members to a different, more targeted financial services institution — albeit one still operating under the credit union structures. Its members would become a branded “tribe” of particular clients instead of a wider range of members; its staff would convert to financial services facilitators instead of credit-union tellers; financial planning would become more common for clients than mere transaction services.
A massive change like this can’t be overtaken overnight, of course. It has to be incremental, taking place over time, so as not to shock members. So, bit by bit during the six years, approaches changed, focuses were realigned, staff was retrained or replaced, and client members and workers were educated in the methodology of an extremely targeted financial boutique.
Has it been completely seamless? Of course not. Change rarely is.
For example, one of the most jarring changes occurred among Blueshore’s staff, many of whom had been with the community credit union for years. But North Shore had been viewed by clients (and some staff ) as a neighbourhood community credit union — “friendly, but not very smart” was how Marni Johnson, senior vicepresident in human resources and communication, described the clientele’s sobering responses to a pre-change survey.
So “we invested heavily across the board in training,” she said. “Having a Certified Financial Planner designation became mandatory. And we worked with high-end personal service operations, like the Four Seasons hotels, on how to provide more personal service.
“The tough part was that some staff didn’t like the change, and self-selected out. The good part is that now 95 per cent of employees understand how they fit.”
Contrast the pre-change attitudes to those of a culture that focuses on partnership instead of hierarchy. For example, Blueshore has been named by various observers as one of Canada’s best small and medium employers, as one of 50 most engaged workplaces, as one of Canada’s most admired corporate cultures.
Further, a Blueshore branch today would likely be unrecognizable to anyone familiar with the plain-Jane style of a typical bank or credit union. Branches are “financial spas” created in a West Coast designer style of natural light-filled glassed-in areas, West Coast decor, concierge service and, sometimes, waterfalls.
The change has had a positive effect on Blueshore’s numbers, too. For example, in 2000, North Shore Credit Union had roughly 42,000 members and assets of $400 million.
Today, Blueshore Financial has about the same number of members but boasts assets of $4.3 billion. And, although, it explored merging with another Vancouverarea credit union a couple of years ago, that has been achieved largely through internal growth.
Most of our members have different, more sophisticated financial needs (than those of regular credit unions).