1st Choice Savings

What 1st Choice Savings does

1st Choice Savings and Credit Union Ltd. is a member-owned financial cooperative founded in 2001 and headquartered in Lethbridge, Alberta. It serves individual consumers, small businesses, and farm/agricultural operations in Southern Alberta through five physical branches — three in Lethbridge (3rd Avenue, Fairmont, Westgate) and one each in Taber and Cardston — supplemented by province-wide digital banking for Alberta residents. The product set spans chequing and savings accounts, GICs, mortgages, personal and business loans and lines of credit, commercial mortgages, agriculture financing and equipment leasing, Visa credit cards (issued through Collabria), mutual funds and retirement planning (through Aviso Wealth), and self-directed investing (through Qtrade). Underlying technology is a standard digital banking platform with 128-bit SSL encryption, biometric-capable mobile apps on iOS and Android, Deposit Anywhere mobile cheque capture, Direct Alerts, and Apple Pay/Google Pay/Samsung Pay tokenization, with access to 1,800+ surcharge-free ATMs via the ding-free network. All deposits are 100% guaranteed by the Credit Union Deposit Guarantee Corporation of Alberta, a structurally stronger protection than the $100,000 cap at chartered banks. The cooperative earns revenue primarily through net interest income on its lending book, plus transaction and account fees, credit card interchange and annual fees, and wealth-management and insurance commissions distributed through its partner stack. Members own the institution through a $1.00 share purchase, elect the board, and receive dividends — over $4.2 million cumulatively since 2001 — tying retention to profit-sharing rather than external equity returns.

Name

1st Choice Savings

Legal name

1st Choice Savings and Credit Union Ltd.

Website

https://1stchoicesavings.ca

Company type

Private

Founded year

2001

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

1st Choice Savings is a member-owned Alberta credit union, founded 2001 and headquartered in Lethbridge, serving individuals, small businesses, and farm operations across Southern Alberta via five branches plus province-wide digital banking, with deposits 100% guaranteed by CUDGC.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Retail Banking

NAICS

Credit Unions (52213), Credit Unions (522130), Credit Card Issuing (52221)

SIC

Savings Institutions, Not Federally Chartered (6036), Personal Credit Institutions (6141)

akta.pro primary industry

SME Deposits & Business Accounts (Operating, Savings, CDs) (FSABABAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Credit Cards & Revolving Credit (FSABAAAC), Large Purchase & Lifestyle Personal Loans (Unsecured Installment) (FSAKAAAG), Retirement Plan Participant Advice & Managed Accounts (FSAEABAF)

Keywords

• Retail banking services
• Commercial lending products
• Agricultural financing
• Credit union deposits
• Wealth management solutions

Headquarters

HQ city

Lethbridge

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices7 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Net Interest Income: Interest income from lending products including mortgages, personal loans, lines of credit, and commercial/agricultural loans. The credit union earns the spread between interest paid on deposits and interest charged on loans.
2. Account and Transaction Fees: Monthly fees on certain accounts, transaction fees for branch services, ATM usage fees, and paper statement charges. Examples include $1.00 for branch transactions, $0.75 for credit union ATM, $5.00 for savings account debit transactions, $2.00 for paper statements.
3. Wealth Management and Investment Products: Revenue from mutual funds and securities offered through partnership with Aviso Wealth, and online brokerage services through Qtrade Direct Investing. Commissions, trailing commissions, management fees and expenses are associated with mutual fund investments.
4. Credit Card Services: Revenue from credit card services including annual fees and interchange income from Collabria-issued credit cards. Multiple card tiers including Visa Infinite Business ($130/year), Low Rate Business ($25/year), and No Fee Cash Back ($0/year).
5. Insurance Products: Personal and commercial insurance products offered through the credit union, providing commission revenue from insurance partnerships.
6. Dividend Distribution to Members: As a cooperative, excess revenues are distributed to members as dividends. Since inception in 2001, over $4.2 million has been given out in dividends to membership. Membership costs $1.00 for one common share.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels7 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

1st Choice Savings is a member-owned credit union providing deposit accounts (chequing, savings, RRSP, TFSA), lending products (personal and commercial mortgages, loans, lines of credit), credit cards, and investment services to individuals, businesses, and agricultural operations across Southern Alberta. Wealth management is delivered through partnerships with Aviso Wealth and Qtrade Direct Investing, while digital banking channels include online and mobile platforms with features such as Deposit Anywhere and Direct Alerts.

Product overview

1st Choice Savings is a credit union offering a comprehensive suite of banking products across personal, business, and agriculture segments. The core offering centers on deposit accounts (chequing and savings), lending products (mortgages, loans, lines of credit), credit cards, and investment services. Digital banking capabilities include online and mobile banking with features like Deposit Anywhere and Direct Alerts. Wealth management and investing services are provided through partnerships with Aviso Wealth and Qtrade Direct Investing. Agriculture-specific products include specialized financing, leasing through Wyth, and AgriInvest accounts. The company also provides various calculators and planning tools to support customer financial decisions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Digital Chequing Account Free personal chequing account with unlimited Interac e-Transfers, no monthly fee, no minimum balance, and access to online and mobile banking for individual members.
• High Interest Savings Account Savings account offering increased interest rates with no minimum balance requirement, designed for daily savings needs of individual members.
• RRSP Cash Account Registered Retirement Savings Plan offering tax-deferred growth, no risk to initial investment, and potential to reduce taxable income for individual retirement savers.
• TFSA Cash Account Tax-Free Savings Account where capital gains are not taxed and no taxes are owing upon withdrawal, available for new and existing money.
• RESP Registered Education Savings Plan for saving toward a child's post-secondary education with government grant matching.
• RDSP Registered Disability Savings Plan for individuals with disabilities and their families.
• RRIF Registered Retirement Income Fund for generating retirement income from accumulated savings.
• GICs and Term Deposits Guaranteed Investment Certificates with terms from 30 days to 5 years offering fixed or variable interest rates.
• Personal Mortgages Flexible mortgage solutions for individuals including first-time home buyer, buying next property, renewal, renovation, construction, and switch options.
• Personal Credit Cards Personal credit cards across travel rewards, cash back, low rate, and low fee categories, issued through partnership with Collabria Financial Services, with mobile payment and fraud protection features.
• Business Chequing Account Business banking account designed for managing business income, expenses, and day-to-day finances for small and medium businesses.
• Business Savings Account Business savings account for building and growing business reserves with competitive interest rates.
• Commercial Mortgages Mortgage solutions for purchasing or expanding commercial real estate properties for business use.
• Commercial Leasing Equipment and business asset leasing solutions enabling businesses to update equipment without full purchase price, through partnership with Wyth.
• Business Loans and Lines of Credit Business financing including term loans and revolving credit lines for day-to-day operations and growth.
• Business Credit Cards Business credit cards including Visa Infinite Business with 1.5 points per $1 spent, Low Rate Visa Business, and No Fee Cash Back Visa Business, issued through Collabria.
• Agriculture Financing Operating loans and credit lines tailored for farm day-to-day expenses and improvements, with 1-7 year terms, variable or fixed rates, and flexible repayment schedules for agricultural operations.
• Agriculture Leasing Farm equipment leasing through Wyth partner, including tractors, harvesters, and tillage equipment, with terms up to 84 months and up to 100% financing.
• Agriculture Mortgages Mortgage solutions for purchasing or expanding farm facilities and real estate for agricultural operations.
• Wealth Management Investment strategies, retirement planning, portfolio management, tax-efficient investing, family wealth management, and business succession consultation through Aviso Wealth partnership.
• Qtrade Direct Investing Self-directed online brokerage platform for buying/selling stocks, bonds, ETFs, and mutual funds with low trading fees, offered through Qtrade partnership.
• Group RRSPs Company-sponsored retirement savings plans with payroll deduction and employer contribution options, including for farm employees.
• AgriInvest Government-matched savings account under the Canadian Agricultural Partnership for managing income declines and risk management on farms.
• Mutual Funds Pooled investment products containing stocks, bonds, and other securities managed by wealth professionals, distributed through Aviso Wealth partnership.
• Personal Insurance Personal insurance products for protecting financial assets and coverage needs of individual members.
• Mobile Banking App Full-service mobile banking application for iOS and Android providing 24/7 account access, transfers, bill payment, Deposit Anywhere cheque deposit, and biometric authentication.
• Online Banking Web-based digital banking platform providing 24/7 account management, transfers, bill payment, and e-Transfer services, secured with 128-bit SSL encryption.
• Night Deposit Service 24-hour depository vault service for business cash and check deposits outside regular branch hours.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over $4.2 million in dividends distributed to members since 2001
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration11 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core, strategic and minor.

• Aviso WealthcoreTechnology or IntegrationStrategic partnership with Aviso Wealth to provide wealth management services including investment strategies, comprehensive retirement planning, portfolio monitoring, tax-efficient investing, family wealth management, and business succession consultation. Aviso Wealth is a division of Aviso Financial Inc. providing mutual funds and securities through the credit union.
• Qtrade Direct InvestingcoreTechnology or IntegrationPartnership with Qtrade Direct Investing for online brokerage services allowing members to buy and sell stocks, bonds, ETFs, and mutual funds. Qtrade has been ranked Canada's #1 online investing platform with low trading fees, industry-leading tools, and responsive client service.
• Collabria Financial Services Inc.coreTechnology or IntegrationPartnership with Collabria Financial Services Inc. for credit card issuance and services. Collabria issues Visa cards for the credit union including Visa Infinite Business, Low Rate Business, and No Fee Cash Back cards. Includes access to CardWise portal, Flex Rewards, and fraud protection services.
• WythstrategicTechnology or IntegrationPartnership with Wyth to provide comprehensive leasing options for agricultural equipment. Wyth enables the credit union to offer equipment leasing with customized interest rates, terms up to 84 months, and up to 100% financing for farm equipment.
• ding-free NetworkminorOthersAccess to over 1,800 surcharge-free ATMs through the ding-free network across Canada. Members can use the ding-free app to locate nearby ATMs.
• InteraccoreTechnology or IntegrationPayment network partnership enabling Interac e-Transfers, Interac Flash contactless payments, and debit transactions. Members can perform banking transactions at Interac, Acculink, Maestro, and Cirrus ATMs worldwide.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Servus Credit Union: Alberta-headquartered member-owned credit union offering a comparable full suite of personal, business, and agricultural banking, deposits, mortgages, and credit cards under the same CUDGC 100% guarantee — the most direct head-to-head competitor for 1st Choice in Alberta.
• Connect First Credit Union: One of Alberta's largest credit unions, formed through mergers of several Southern Alberta and Calgary-region credit unions; offers the same personal/business/ag banking model under CUDGC, directly overlapping 1st Choice's market footprint.

Broad incumbents

• ATB Financial: Alberta's provincially chartered financial institution offering full personal, business, and agricultural banking — a much larger incumbent that competes across all of 1st Choice's segments, including specialized ag lending and SME services.
• Desjardins Group: Canada's largest cooperative financial group, providing the full retail, business, agricultural, wealth, and insurance suite under a member-owned model — a broad incumbent benchmark for the credit union system at scale.

Regional players

• Conexus Credit Union: Saskatchewan-based member-owned credit union with a similar full-service retail/business/ag model, providing a useful cross-provincial benchmark for the Canadian prairie credit union operating model.
• First West Credit Union: British Columbia-headquartered credit union operating under a similar community cooperative structure with retail, business banking, and wealth services — comparable in operating model, scale, and product mix.
• Vancity: BC-based member-owned credit union with full personal/business banking plus wealth management and community-focused values — a useful analogue for the cooperative model 1st Choice operates under.
• Meridian Credit Union: Ontario's largest credit union, offering the same breadth of personal, business, and agricultural banking, investment, and insurance products through a member-owned cooperative structure.
• Alterna Savings: Ontario and Alberta-based credit union offering full-service personal and business banking, mortgages, deposits, and wealth products — comparable mid-sized community credit union model.
• Coastal Financial Credit Union: BC-based community credit union offering personal, business, and agricultural banking under the same member-owned structure — useful for benchmarking how small/medium Canadian credit unions grow digital-first member bases.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/1stchoiceCU
• Facebookfacebook.com/1stchoicesavings
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/1st-choice-savings-and-credit-union-ltd.
• Instagraminstagram.com/1stchoicesavings

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about 1st Choice Savings