The Gradual Evolution of Credit Unions into Banking Institutions

Our guest on this episode of the Insights Podcast is Marie Mullally, the CEO of CUA. CUA is one of the largest credit unions in Atlantic Canada. There are more than 300,000 credit union members in Atlantic Canada. Credit unions have their roots in small communities. In the case of CUA, it started as a credit union for dockyard workers in Halifax, growing to $1.2 billion in assets under management and offering most, if not all, of the services of the major banks in Canada. Credit unions are cooperatives, owned by their members and serving those members as customers. Mullally provides an excellent overview of the advantages and limitations of being much smaller than banks while still offering the same suite of services. It is an interesting look at a unique segment of Canada's financial services market and is highly educational.