Summertime and the Traveling and Banking is Easy

Ahhhh – summer! Whether you are travelling far or near, if your summer plans include escaping from home and your day-to-day reality there is lots to think about. But not to worry, your Credit Union has a handle on what you need to do to make sure your vacation plans don’t end up giving you a financial hangover.

Your Money

You will still need access to your money wherever you are. Since The Credit Union is part of THE EXCHANGE® Network, your Credit Union Debit Card can be used across Canada and the U.S. at ATMs displaying THE EXCHANGE® Network sign. Within Canada and most of the U.S. you won’t need to be worry about surcharges. But to be sure if you are traveling in the U.S. look for the No SUR! symbol at participating ATMs. The Credit Union does charge a fee for ATM withdrawals in the U.S. To check our service fees visit our website mycreditunion.ca and click on Fees or click here.

The Credit Union is also a member of the ACCEL® Point of Sale (“POS”) Network which is one of the largest POS networks in the U.S. with over 1,000,000 debit machines. This means you may use your Credit Union Debit Card at ACCEL® POS locations. The Credit Union does charge a fee for POS/Debit Card transactions.

Your Bills

With The Credit Union TelPay and HomeBanking service you can set-up bill payments for virtually anyone or any business. If the individual or business is not included in the extensive biller list all you need to is their name, account number, email or fax number, mailing address and phone number and you can set it up to pay electronically from your account. If you already know how much and on what dates you need to make payments while you are away you can easily set up post-dated payments.

Your Insurance

The last thing you want to experience on your vacation is additional expense because of an illness or accident. So to make sure our members are well taken care of away from home we have partnered with the CUMIS® Insurance Travel Program so you can get insurance packages at special rates. Your plan will not only cover expenses related to hospital stays, medical and dental visits but also provides 24/7 emergency assistance in case of a sudden illness or accident.

Your Vacation Budget

The best way to budget for your summer vacation is throughout the year. If a vacation is planned and your savings are not up to it The Credit Union may still be your best option. Come in and talk to your financial advocate about an Everyday Loan you can use for your vacation. The interest you will pay on your loan will be less expensive than using a credit card. And while you are at it – talk to us about establishing a budget for your next vacation. Decide on the vacation and the budget and save a portion of the expense each month. You can set up an automatic withdrawal to transfer money from your chequing account to your savings account and earmark the account for your vacation. By planning in advance you can take the big purchases like hotels and airfare and spread the purchases out over the year.