Meridian Credit Union Ltd. is a Canadian

credit union A credit union is a member-owned nonprofit organization, nonprofit cooperative financial institution. They may offer financial services equivalent to those of commercial banks, such as share accounts (savings accounts), share draft accounts (che ...

. It was formed on 1 April 2005 through the merger of Niagara Credit Union and HEPCOE (''Hydro Electric Power Commission of Ontario Employees'') Credit Union. It is insured by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario.

History

Meridian is the second largest credit union in Canada, and the largest credit union in Ontario, with more than 378,000 members with total assets under administration of over $28.5 billion. Meridian offers banking, wealth management, credit products and services through 88 branches, and fifteen Commercial Business Centres. Desjardins Credit Union (the Ontario affiliate of the

Desjardins Group The Desjardins Group (, ) is a Canadian financial service cooperative and the largest federation of credit unions () in North America. It was founded in 1900 in Lévis, Quebec by Alphonse Desjardins. While its legal headquarters remains in Lé ...

, formerly

Province of Ontario Savings Office The Province of Ontario Savings Office (POSO) was a financial institution established by the Government of Ontario, Canada in 1922 to provide a government-owned alternative to banks. The POSO was closed in 2003 when its assets were sold to the Que ...

) and Meridian's membership voted in favour of a merger effective 1 June 2011. By 2012, most of the former Desjardins branches in Ontario had been renamed to Meridian branches. In April 2016 Meridian completed its acquisition from

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of Roynat Lease Finance, a supplier of commercial equipment leasing. Roynat Lease Finance will operate as Meridian OneCap Credit Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of Meridian Credit Union. On 21 February 2017, Meridian announced and introduced a new line of

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credit cards, moving away from MasterCard. On 19 November 2019, Meridian won "Best Credit Union" at the 5th Annual Canadian FinTech & AI Awards. During the

COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario The COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario was a viral pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a novel infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first confirmed case of COVID-19 in Canada w ...

, Meridian closed branches and reduced hours to comply with lockdown orders. As a result, however, it laid off 109 members of its staff.

Motusbank

On 17 August 2016, Meridian announced its intention to establish a federally chartered

online bank Online banking, also known as internet banking, virtual banking, web banking or home banking, is a system that enables customers of a bank or other financial institution to conduct a range of financial transactions through the financial institut ...

ing subsidiary. On 4 February 2019 the name announced for the new entity was Motusbank, stylized as ''motusbank''. Motusbank launched across Canada on 2 April 2019. As of June 2019, Motusbank had approximately CAD$54 million in capital.

Recognition

Meridian Credit Union was listed as one of Canada's top 100 employers by ''

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'' magazine in 2009 and 2010.

Sponsorships

Through its "Commitment to Communities" program Meridian Credit Union contributes money to local causes and encourages employees to volunteer in their community. The company also donates to national organizations such as the

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. Facilities which Meridian owns naming rights to include Meridian Hall (

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

), Meridian Place (

Barrie Barrie is a city in Central Ontario, Canada, about north of Toronto. The city is within Simcoe County and located along the shores of Kempenfelt Bay. Although it is physically in the county, Barrie is politically independent. The city is part ...

) and Meridian Centre (

St. Catharines St. Catharines is the most populous city in Canada's Niagara Region, the eighth largest urban area in the province of Ontario. As of 2021, St. Catharines has an area of and 136,803 residents. It lies in Southern Ontario, south of Toronto ac ...

References

External links

*
Motusbank official website
{{Canadian banks Banks established in 2005 Credit unions of Ontario 2005 establishments in Ontario Companies based in St. Catharines