MARKHAM, ON – Everlink Payment Services Inc. is pleased to announce that Assiniboine Credit Union (ACU) – Manitoba’s  second largest credit union (by assets) and the eighth largest in Canada (by assets)  – has made the move to Everlink’s Central Card Issuance Solution (CCI) effective November 12, 2013. With the launch scheduled for the end of 2013, ACU – along with Outlook Financial (a division of ACU) – will begin leveraging Everlink CCI to issue dual interface debit cards over the next 5 years.

“Assiniboine Credit Union joins a growing list of leading Canadian financial institutions that have entrusted Everlink with the mission-critical role of debit card issuance partner,” says Mark Ripplinger, President and CEO of Everlink. “This speaks to the outstanding strength, reliability and cost-effectiveness of this Line of Business – which includes our Central Card Issuance and award winning Instant Card Issuance solutions – and its increasing popularity amongst Canadian credit unions.”

This decision makes ACU the first credit union in Canada to issue Interac Flash debit cards via the Celero eroWORKS banking system, a core platform designed to enhance the banking experience at the branch level, strengthen member and customer loyalty, and boost profitability.

“By expanding our partnership with Everlink, Assiniboine Credit Union is able to provide our members with some of the newest market technologies, providing both convenience and security and enhancing their banking experience,” says Al Morin, President and CEO of Assiniboine Credit Union. ”We look forward to the increased value that Everlink can help us provide to our members.”

“Celero is always looking for ways to support new technologies for our customers,” says Bob Reczka, chief executive officer, Celero. “This enables credit unions to offer cutting-edge convenience and a better experience for their members.”

The Everlink CCI solution enables financial institutions to reliably and cost-effectively produce EMV Chip debit cards from a secure central facility, offering distribution options to send the cards directly to the member/customer or to the branch.

CCI leverages relationships Everlink has with card production suppliers who operate facilities certified by all major card associations, in order to offer end-to-end solutions with proven, tried and true, in-production technology.  CCI aligns perfectly with the needs of today’s payment card issuers looking to maximize quality and reduce cost-per-card.

Assiniboine Credit Union is Manitoba’s largest credit union by membership, serving over 110,000 members and Canada’s eighth largest credit union with $3.5 Billion in assets under management. As a co-operative financial institution, ACU provides all of the products and services you would expect from a mainstream bank but with a difference. As a co-op, Assiniboine is democratically controlled by its members and exists to improve the financial health of our members and help foster self-reliant and sustainable communities.

Celero is a leading provider of IT solutions to financial institutions across Canada. Consistently ranked among the world’s top financial technology companies on the annual FinTech 100 list, Celero has 250 employees located across Canada. A full-service IT shop, Celero provides complete banking solutions, IT planning, systems integration, hosting, support, maintenance and professional services to meet the unique needs of financial institutions of all sizes and delivers world-class reliability through our Canadian-based data centres, employees and operations. For more information about Celero, visit www.celero.ca

Everlink Payment Services Inc. is a leading provider of comprehensive, innovative and integrated payments solutions and services for credit unions, banks, and independent sales organizations across Canada. In addition to supplying best-in-breed technology infrastructure and payment network connectivity via our well established Payment Network Gateway, we offer a diversified range of integrated payments Lines of Business including: ATM Managed Services, Card Issuance & Management, Fraud Management, POS Acquiring and Professional Services.

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