Member Newsletter

In an effort to keep members better informed, FICANEX Services is pleased to send out the first edition of its electronic member newsletter. On a regular basis, FICANEX will be sending members updates on chip card implementation, member survey results, quick network facts, our vision and values, member highlights, board meetings and financial results. Through this newsletter, FICANEX will also be keeping you abreast of new education campaigns, key events, member consultations, industry presentations, and more. We welcome your feedback on what information would be most valuable for you. Please send an email with suggestions to lmatheson@the-exchange.ca and let us know.

THE EXCHANGE® Network’s migration to Chip / EMV will make a safe network even more secure, increase cardholder confidence, and lower member costs associated with fraud management. Chip card technology is based on a global standard known as EMV, a proven technology in wide use around the world. In coordination with your switch providers and the central switch processor (CSP), Threshold Financial Technologies:

• THE EXCHANGE® ATM Network will be chip ready in 2010 with over 90% of deposit-taking ATMs and 50% of other ATMS able to process chip transactions.
• By 2012 at the latest, all debit cards will have chips and all 2,400+ ATMs will be able to process chip transactions on THE EXCHANGE® ATM Network.

These timelines are in accordance with the timelines designated by other Canadian financial institutions and Interac.

Important Dates:

April 15, 2010

THE EXCHANGE® Network Inter-institutional chip testing and certification for your switch providers with the CSP will commence.

December 31, 2010

• 65% of debit cards have chips.
• 90% of deposit-taking ATMs are able to process chip transactions.
• 50% of other ATMs are able to process chip transactions.

December 31, 2012

• 100% of debit cards have chips.
• 100% of ATMs are able to process chip transactions.

Note: Chip cards will continue to carry the magnetic stripe, not only to facilitate the chip transition period, but also to allow cardholders to use their debit cards in other countries that do not use chip technology. US Exchange and NO Sur! ATM transactions as well as your ACCEL POS transactions will continue to process as magstripe transactions. There will be no loss of service to your cardholders in the US.

The Results Are In: Independent Review of Membership

In keeping with the principles of good governance and in an effort to measure our performance FICANEX recently commissioned an independent review of our membership on the effectiveness of our organization and THE EXCHANGE® Network. We are motivated to better understand the needs of and issues facing members of THE EXCHANGE® Network, particularly at a time when financial institutions and networks migrate to Chip technology.

As such, we asked Angus Reid Public Opinion, an independent market research company, to contact members to get your views on the effectiveness of FICANEX and THE EXCHANGE® Network and to better understand the needs of and issues facing members.

Email invitations were sent to the CEOs or appropriate contacts within member institutions of THE EXCHANGE® network. The study was conducted between Thursday, January 28th and Friday, February 5th. Invitations were sent to 228 valid email addresses. There were 77 responses, which according to Angus Reid Public Opinion is a respectable 33.7% response rate – typically surveys like this get a response rate around 10% to 12%.

Highlights of the research results have shown that overall satisfaction with THE EXCHANGE® network and FICANEX’s management of it is high. Members have lots of questions about preparation for the full EMV chip roll-out and there is a small group who are concerned about THE EXCHANGE® network timelines. Nearly half of members feel that they do not have enough information – the most pressing information they need is clear and specific around timelines and readiness. We have heard members want to be communicated with by email, at generally the same amount they get right now with the addition of a regular e-newsletter.

Your opinions and contributions are important to FICANEX and the results of this research will be indispensable in our planning and the future success of THE EXCHANGE® network for all members. We will be making adjustments in areas where you identified a need for improvement and strive to keep doing the things you identified that we are doing well.

For the survey results, please see PDF link.

We are pleased to announce that Communications Technologies Credit Union and St. Stanislaus – St. Casimir's Polish Parishes Credit Union in Ontario have now joined the network. In addition to these two credit unions, the following members are also now providing access to the US POS network ACCEL to their cardholders: Buduchnist Credit Union (ON), Williams Lake and District Credit Union (BC), Integris Credit Union (BC), Hamilton Community Credit Union (ON), and Krek Slovenian Credit Union (ON).

FICANEX Services is committed to the principles of corporate social responsibility. As such we maintain a Donation program with the express purpose of demonstrating good corporate citizenship in the communities where we do business.

FICANEX Services Corporation is pleased to consider requests for donations that promote and support initiatives in the following groups:

• Women’s Shelters
• Disadvantaged women and youth
• Care facilities

In 2009 FICANEX sponsored a variety of charities including Zebra Child Protection in Alberta, Northern BC Friends of Children Society in BC, Hospice Greater Saint John in New Brunswick, Kids East Smart Foundation in Newfoundland, Supportive Housing for Young Mothers in Nova Scotia, Horizons for Youth in Ontario, Guelph Wellington Women in Crisis in Ontario, Anderson House in PEI, and Saskatoon Downtown Youth Center in Saskatchewan.