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MEDIA CENTER

First West and thirdstream partner to launch new offering from Central 1’s innovation platform

VANCOUVER, B.C.- Central 1 today announced the latest deployments from its innovation hub, Forge Community. DUCA, a credit union participant that joined the collaborative platform last year, launched a new profit-share rewards program for their more than 92,000 members. Credit union First West, in partnership with fintech thirdstream, collaborated to release a faster, more streamlined account origination experience.

“We welcomed several new fintechs and credit unions to Forge Community this year and it’s exciting to see the ecosystem thriving with innovation,” said Erick Wong, Central 1’s Chief Product Officer. “This platform is where developers, industry experts, fintechs, credit unions and other financial institutions can find collaborative opportunities to drive innovation and deliver exceptional member and client experiences.”

DUCA’s new profit share rewards program, Do More Profit Sharing, lets members earn and use rewards to “buy” better rates on GICs, term products, fixed loans or fixed mortgages, or convert the rewards to cash.

Critical to the launch of the program was making it easy for DUCA members to track and use their rewards online. DUCA built and deployed a variety of user-interface plugins on Forge Community to provide their members with secure and easy-to-navigate online access to their rewards balance, calculators and a process to submit redemption requests.

The First West and thirdstream deployment was a collaborative effort to streamline account origination for members and clients of First West divisions Envision Financial, Island Savings Valley First and Enderby & District Financial. This release enables new savings accounts with enhanced account opening experiences for chequing accounts, term deposits, registered products and personal loans.

“Collaboration is the backbone of the credit union system and being able to better leverage our fintech partners through Forge Community is a really powerful way for us to build innovative solutions for our members,” says Darrell Jaggers, Chief Transformation Officer at First West Credit Union. “We’re excited to roll out this enhancement to provide greater flexibility to our members and will continue to work towards simplifying our account opening journey through this partnership.”

With this, thirdstream’s deposit and loans onboarding capabilities are now available to the entire Central 1 member and client base who can leverage their Forge digital Banking Platform seamlessly with thirdstream’s retail and commercial deposit solutions, as well as credit card and consumer lending experiences.

About Forge Community

Forge Community is Central 1’s innovation hub where fintech, credit union and other financial institution developers can collaborate, create and deploy new digital solutions. With Community, Central 1 members and clients gain access to a cost-effective innovation platform and a suite of fintechs. Fintechs join Forge Community as a gateway to potential partnerships with Central 1’s 190 member financial institutions with four million customers across Canada. For more information, visit Forge Community

Company Information

About First West Credit Union

First West Credit Union offers members the financial strength, comprehensive product selection and extended branch network of a large financial institution while maintaining local brand identities and a unique grassroots approach to service. Led by Launi Skinner, First West is one of Canada’s largest credit unions with nearly $18.6 billion in total assets and assets under administration, more than 270,000 members and approximately 1,250 team members. It operates 45 branches throughout the province under the Envision Financial, Valley First, Island Savings and Enderby & District Financial brands. Visit firstwestcu.ca for more information on First West Credit Union.

About Central 1

Central 1 Credit Union (‘Central 1’) cooperatively empowers credit unions and other financial institutions who deliver banking choice to Canadians. With assets of $11.9 billion as of December 31, 2022, Central 1 provides critical services at scale to enable a thriving credit union system. We do this by collaborating with our clients, developing strategies, products, and services to support the financial well-being of their more than 5 million diverse customers in communities across Canada.

For more information, visit central1.com.

Media Contacts

Josh Juhlke

Communications Manager 
c: 604.309.6066 
jjuhlke@firstwestcu.ca