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Coast Capital, including its ATMs, closing over long weekend for system overhaul

Coast Capital Savings Credit Union is installing a new banking system during the upcoming Family Day long weekend, making most of its services unavailable to its 500,000 members until noon Tuesday. The shut-down begins at 3 p.m. Friday.
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Coast Capital Savings branches will be shut down this weekend to install new electronic banking systems

Coast Capital Savings Credit Union is installing a new banking system during the upcoming Family Day long weekend, making most of its services unavailable to its 500,000 members until noon Tuesday. The shut-down begins at 3 p.m. Friday.

Coast Capital branches will be closed and its ATMs will not be in service. Online, mobile and personal and business telephone banking will also be unavailable. Members will be able to make debit card purchases and withdrawals, and can make deposits and transfer funds at other credit unions and bank ATMs. Bill payments arranged in advance will continue during this time.

Some ATMs will charge fees, while others will not.

Coast Capital is recommending members use ATMs belonging to a group of “ding-free” credit unions.

“We are advising customers to avoid incurring fees for ATM use while our systems are down by making withdrawals and deposits at any credit union ATM. There will be no fees for using these ATMs,” Divine Agodzo said Tuesday. “All Coast Capital ATMs will have a sign telling customers the location of the nearest credit union ATM.”

For a list of ATMs that will not charge a transaction fee, go to coastcapitalsavings.com

In Greater Victoria, these include ATMs at Island Savings Credit Union, Vancity Savings Credit Union, and Community Savings Credit Union.

“Customers who use ATMs at other financial institutions [not owned by a credit union] will be charged fees by that financial institution and this charge will not be covered by Coast Capital,” Agodzo said.

Jay-Ann Fordy, Coast Capital’s chief human resources officer and leader of the project, said the banking system used today came from Pacific Coast Savings, which was merged with Coast Capital and Richmond Savings 13 years ago. “It has served us really well, but it’s now time for us to move to a platform that is going to have a lot longer shelf life for us to be able to keep providing our customers with the innovative products we do, more services, better options into the future.”

Coast Capital merged with Surrey Metro Savings in 2002 and is now Canada’s second largest credit union. Its head office is in Surrey. The credit union has $13.5 billion in assets under its administration and more than 500,000 members, Fordy said.

It has 50 branches in Metro Vancouver, the Fraser Valley and Vancouver Island, including a dozen in Greater Victoria.

Temenos, a company with headquarters in Geneva that specializes in banking software, is providing the Temenos T24 system, used widely around the globe. The new system, “gives us more ability to do what we want to do into the future,” Fordy said.

She would not reveal the system’s cost but said it is one of the biggest investments that Coast Capital has made.

Letters went to customers advising them of the temporary service disruption, she said.

A 24-hour Help Line will be operating throughout the weekend. The toll-free number is 1-888-517-7000. In Greater Victoria, the number is 250-483-7000 and in Metro Vancouver, it is 604-517-7000.

The credit union suggests members complete anything necessary in branches prior to the 3 p.m. closing time on Friday. This could include paying bills, foreign exchange, bank drafts, and access to safety deposit boxes.

If a member needs to pay a bill during this time, it is recommended to do so early or arrange for that to be scheduled. Also, the credit union recommends that customers have other payment options available, such as credit cards, cash or cheques, in case of unanticipated service problems while trying to use a Coast Capital debit card.