A new financial institution is opening in Richmond that will take into account cultural and language issues facing Chinese-speaking people.
And it will be led by former Burnaby-Lougheed MLA, Katrina Chen.
Chen chose not to run for re-election, rather she is now working as the president of AnXin Community Savings, a branch of the 80-year-old Community Savings credit union that was originally started by union workers.
AnXin is opening its branch on Wednesday on No. 3 Road across from Richmond Centre, but it’s serving customers by appointment-only until next spring when a full launch is planned.
While they will serve English-speaking customers as well, AnXin will focus on helping clients who speak a variety of Chinese dialects to break down cultural and language barriers for newer immigrants.
Chen noted there are credit unions that tailor their services to people from Korea, Sharons Credit Union, and for Sikhs, Khalsa Credit Union.
But a gap has been identified for people from Chinese-speaking countries, she added. Thirty per cent of the population in Metro Vancouver is Chinese-speaking – this number is 44 per cent in Richmond.
“The key at AnXin is to bring everyone together through language and cultural understanding,” Chen told the Richmond News.
Many people arrive in Canada with no local credit history, which can be a barrier for getting financial services, she added.
AnXin will be offering all the services provided by its parent credit union, Community Savings, including chequing and savings accounts and mortgages, but they plan to tailor their products once they’ve learned what the needs are of the Chinese-language community.
The branch is being led by Chen, who immigrated from Taiwan herself, and staffed others who have come to Canada as immigrants from Chinese-language countries.
“We are built and led by people with lived experience,” she said.
AnXin will also work to combat systemic challenges such as racism and discrimination that can be prevalent in financial institutions, she added.
The name of the new credit union, AnXin, comes from two Chinese words, “An” for “stability” and “Xin” for “trust.”
Chen said she’s “excited” to be working for a social-purpose-driven organization that is not profit driven.
Credit unions are member-owned, and they are regulated by the BC Financial Services Association.
One product already offered by Community Savings, which will also be available at AnXin, is “express loans,” short-term loans that offer “reasonable alternatives” to payday loans, which can have high interest rates, explained Julia White with Community Savings.
Chen noted a lot of new immigrants rely on payday loan businesses to cash cheques or for short-term loans because of their lack of credit history in B.C.
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