Central 1 Credit Union Launches Online Small Business Invoicing

October 3, 2017

Tabulating your financial statements as a small business owner just became a little easier

Central 1 Credit Union has announced small business invoicing via online banking, a first in North America. Before this new integration, the only way for almost every small business owner to access and manage transactions was through plug-ins offered by fintech companies.

Close to 300 credit unions in Canada use the Vancouver-based Credit 1’s offerings, including wholesale financial products, trust services and digital banking solutions. The new feature launched coast-to-coast and the first two credit unions adopting it are the Newfoundland and Labrador Credit Union on the East Coast and Prospera Credit Union on the West Coast.

“At Central 1, we work to provide our member credit unions with the polished user experience of a fintech, coupled with the data reliability of a traditional bank,” said Randy Johal, senior product manager at Credit 1. “Our leading technology supports small businesses by saving them time and money.”

Credit unions have been found to be more reliable when it comes to supporting small and medium-sized businesses when compared to bigger banks, according to research from the Canadian Federation of Small Businesses. This involves everything from financing, fees and customer service—and obviously account management, as the launch of invoicing from Credit 1 approves.

Small business invoicing means small business owners can invoice through their credit union’s online banking platform in real time and see suggested reconciliations for easy matching. This comes with the same kind of intuitive interface that leading fintech innovators would provide, all attached to the institutional trust of an established financial institution.

“Our credit union has been providing financial services to small and medium-sized businesses for decades,” said Allison Chaytor-Loveys, CEO of Newfoundland and Labrador Credit Union. “We have a strong understanding of the unique challenges that small business owners face. Knowing that ‘time’ is one of their most valuable commodities, we’re delighted about the new invoicing feature and what it has to offer.”

Credit 1 has offices in three Canadian cities and holds close to $18 billion in assets.