Do credit union members care about patronage returns (co-op principle number 3)? And what if a credit union changed the way it paid them out? Would they care more? In 2018, the country’s fourth-largest credit union, Servus, adopted a policy of prepaying patronage for its members that sheds some light on these questions. Instead of paying a member $200 (for example) each year over a five-year mortgage term, Servus offered to pay some of its members a lump-sum ($1,000 in this example) when they signed on for the mortgage. Later, Servus introduced a “Big Share” lottery where the winner would receive a $1 million patronage payment. How did members react to these changes to Servus’ until-then traditional patronage program? And what do the results of this experiment tell us about co-operative values and the co-op business model in a fiercely competitive market?
Join the Centre for the Study of Co-operatives on June 5 at 4:30 p.m. as the dynamic and ever-engaging Ian Glassford, former chief financial officer and current special projects advisor at Servus, tells us about Servus’ efforts to innovate its patronage program.
RSVP to amanda.white@usask.ca or (306) 966-8509 before June 3, 2019.
Event Details
- When:
- Time:
- 04:30 PM - 06:00 PM CST
- Location:
- Prairie Room, Diefenbaker Building 101 Diefenbaker Place University of Saskatchewan
- File:
- Download the event communique