RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif. – CO-OP Financial Services said it will pay a shareholder dividend of $26.1 million for fiscal year 2016, raising to $393.7 million the total patronage amount made available by CO-OP since becoming a cooperative in 1996, the company reported.
“This latest year’s healthy patronage to our 1,200 shareholding credit unions represents a balance with the more than $25 million we are investing in the company in 2017 on technology infrastructure and product innovation,” said Todd Clark, president/CEO. “We are particularly pleased to return such a large patronage to shareholders on the heels of our acquisition earlier this month of TMG, making us a fully-integrated, comprehensive payments services company to shareholders, clients and the entire credit union movement.”
CO-OP said that among the recent highlights are:
- CO-OP is working to implement artificial intelligence to fight fraud, with a machine learning-based risk management tool to be utilized by CO-OP for its client credit unions in 2017.
- · CO-OP and FCTI, Inc. have reached an agreement ensuring that approximately 8,000 ATMs located in 7-Eleven stores nationwide will continue to be a part of the CO-OP ATM network. The agreement ensures that CO-OP ATM, at 30,000 machines nationwide, remains the largest credit union-owned network and the best-known consumer brand in the industry.
- · CO-OP has formed a strategic partnership with Early Warning to offer credit unions access to the ZelleNetwork. Early Warning’s Zelle Network will enable members of participating credit unions to send money to anyone with a U.S. bank or credit union account.
- · On April 3, 2017, CO-OP announced the acquisition of TMG. CO-OP had been the minority owner of TMG since January 2012 and purchased all remaining shares from the Iowa Credit Union League for $100 million. “The combined forces of TMG and CO-OP provide credit unions with a single point of entry to the most innovative, tailored, cost-effective products and services as they prepare for a rapidly transforming payments landscape,” said Clark at the time of the announcement.
The Annual Meeting of CO-OP Shareholders will be held during the THINK 17 Conference in New York City. The meeting will take place at 8 a.m. Eastern time on Thursday, May 11.