Canadian credit unions are facing a defining moment, as leaders from credit unions Cornerstone, Servus, Mainstreet, Meridian and Desjardins discussed at Open Banking Expo Canada 2026.
In a Powerhouse Debate on the Open Finance Stage, moderator Sabena Sandhu, manager, policy at the Canadian Credit Unions Association, posed the question: “Credit unions are very well known for their strong relationships with their members. But in a consumer-driven and data-portable environment, does the trust that credit unions have built with their members become a competitive advantage, or does Open Data fundamentally change loyalty and dynamics?”
Panellists cautioned that this may no longer be enough in a data-portable environment. As Jodi Chambers, chief strategy and innovation officer at Cornerstone Credit Union, highlighted, convenience is increasingly overriding loyalty, particularly among younger customers who are willing to switch providers quickly if better digital experiences are available.
This shift was echoed across the panel, with speakers noting that traditional measures of loyalty, including tenure and familiarity, are weakening. Instead, outcomes and experience are becoming the primary drivers of customer behaviour.
Jamie Kruspel, chief transformation officer at Mainstreet Credit Union, noted that trust may open the door, but it is ease of use and speed that determine whether institutions retain business.
“What we need to do is take the friction out of the process of joining us. And that is something that we struggle with because we seem to have a tendency to say, ‘I need 15 things to prove that I can give you that money’, even though there are ways that we can take a different approach to that. I want to challenge all of us… to think of how we make it easy to win the chance to get our members’ loyalty,” he said.
Doing right by members
Against this backdrop, Consumer-Driven Banking presents both an opportunity and a risk. While it enables greater access to data, it also lowers barriers for competitors. As a result, differentiation will depend less on access itself and more on how that data is used.
Fabio Marrama, director, product and payments innovation at Meridian Credit Union, emphasised that success will depend on clearly demonstrating value to members. Simply having access to more data will not be sufficient.
Marrama explained: “If we’re levelling the playing field, we have to be able to use that data to create products, services, and experiences that are truly going to help our members. It’s not about creating more products – putting more products to sell in front of them.
“We have to be able to do right by members, and we have to be able to use data to actually present offers, products and services to them that are going to make their lives better.”
The concept of “primacy” emerged as a key theme. Credit unions must position themselves as the primary platform through which members manage their financial lives. However, achieving this will require significant changes to both technology and operating models.
Partnerships were widely identified as a critical enabler. Given their relative size and resources, credit unions are unlikely to build all capabilities internally. Instead, collaboration with fintechs and other partners will be essential to accelerate innovation and bring new products and services to market.
Antoine Dumortier, payment expert at Desjardins, noted that this collaborative approach aligns naturally with the cooperative model. Open Banking, he argued, “rewards organizations who can integrate, collaborate and orchestrate in a very efficient way”.
However, while the external opportunity is significant, much of the discussion focused on internal barriers.
Several panellists highlighted that many of the challenges facing credit unions are not technological, but cultural and operational. Risk aversion, legacy processes and entrenched ways of working continue to create friction, even where better solutions already exist.
Chambers pointed to examples where institutions continue to rely on outdated processes, despite having access to sufficient internal data to make faster and more accurate decisions.
This was reinforced by Sandeep Kawadkar, head, product, pricing and loyalty at Servus, who argued that organisations must first “get their own house in order” by making better use of the data they already hold and “getting to the right outcomes for your members”.
Mindset shift
The discussion also highlighted the importance of mindset. While credit unions are often described as more agile than larger institutions, this advantage is not always realised in practice. Speakers stressed that leadership and organisational culture will play a critical role in determining how quickly institutions can adapt.
At the same time, credit unions retain unique advantages. Their strong local presence and deep community connections were identified as areas where they can differentiate in a more open ecosystem. By combining these strengths with improved digital capabilities, they may be able to offer more personalised and relevant services than larger competitors.
Examples from international markets were cited to support this view. In jurisdictions where Open Banking is already established, local institutions have successfully leveraged data and partnerships to enhance lending, streamline onboarding and deliver more tailored services, particularly for small businesses.
Looking ahead, the transition from read access to write access was identified as a key inflection point. While initial phases of Consumer-Driven Banking will focus on data access, the introduction of payment capabilities is expected to significantly increase both opportunity and complexity.
Kawadkar noted that while read access may optimise existing portfolios, write access has the potential to fundamentally reshape business models, enabling new revenue streams but also introducing higher levels of risk and operational demands.
Despite these challenges, there was a clear sense that the industry cannot afford to wait.
Several speakers emphasised that many of the benefits associated with Open Banking can already be delivered using existing tools and data. Waiting for full regulatory clarity risks delaying progress and missing opportunities to improve member experience in the near term.
As Kruspel concluded, the focus should not be on waiting for the framework to be finalised, but on taking action now to remove friction, improve processes and deliver value to members.
Watch Mainstreet’s Jamie Kruspel and Sandeep Kawadkar of Servus in the Live Lounge at Open Banking Expo Canada 2026 as they reflect on the discussion they had on stage.
