About company
Northern Credit Union is a financial cooperative founded in 1957. Being the largest credit union in Northern Ontario, it serves over 70,000 members in 28 communities.
Features
Northern Credit Union offers a range of banking products and services for individuals and business members.
Unlike banks, Northern Credit Union doesn’t have shareholders. Instead, members own the credit union and elect the Board of Directors following the one member, one vote principle.
The credit union reinvests a portion of its profits into local businesses and community programs.
Community-focused activities of Northern Credit Union include creating favorable conditions for local businesses, developing financial literacy programs, raising local donations, and encouraging environmental sustainability initiatives.
Pros and cons
Here are the benefits of being a Northern Credit Union member:
A range of personal and business banking products and services
Safety of eligible deposits guaranteed by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario’s Deposit Insurance Reserve Fund
No fees for savings accounts
Competitive rates for savings accounts and term deposits (GICs)
An online application available
Online, mobile, and telephone banking capabilities
A network of over 4,500 surcharge-free ATMs across Canada and abroad
The drawbacks are:
Monthly fees for chequing accounts
Branches located in smaller communities in Northern Ontario primarily
Products
For individuals, there are the following products at Northern Credit Union:
Chequing accounts for your daily banking operations with a zero to an unlimited number of monthly transactions included
Savings accounts with no monthly fees and interest rates ranging from 1.65% to 1.70% depending on the balance
Credit cards with benefits like no annual fees, low rates, cash back, and reward-earning opportunities as well as prepaid cards
Open and closed mortgages with rates ranging from 5.09% to 8.00% depending on the chosen term
Personal, student, specialty, and investment loans with flexible repayment schedules with rates starting from 5.70%
Lines of credit to get revolving access to a set financing amount at competitive rates based on the Northern Prime rate of 5.95%
Registered plans like RRSPs, RDSPs, RESPs, and TFSAs to grow your savings and investment income on a tax-sheltered basis
GICs to earn a competitive return and ensure the security of your initial investments
Mutual funds to invest in professionally managed portfolios of diverse investment securities
Investment shares including Class B Investment Shares and Northern Loyalty Shares to earn a competitive return on investing in Northern’s growth
Business banking products include:
Business and agriculture chequing accounts to perform your daily business operations with a zero to an unlimited number of monthly transactions included
Business and agriculture savings accounts with no monthly fees to earn interest on the extra cash your company has
Community chequing accounts with low monthly fees to help non-profits, charities, sports teams, and sports organizations perform their daily transactions
Business mortgages to borrow against the equity in your property to finance the real estate projects of your business
Business loans and lines of credit providing the working capital for your business
Business credit cards with benefits like low fees, cash back, and reward-earning opportunities
Services
Individuals can reach out to Northern Credit Union for the following services:
Investment planning services to come up with the right strategy to meet your financial goals
Access to Qtrade to trade investment securities online with low trading fees
The services for business members include:
Payment solutions to enhance your cash management and provide customers with convenient ways to pay you
Payroll solutions to improve your HR-related processes like payroll and workforce management.