News

Shared Financial Solutions, Co-op Financial Services strike partnership agreement

Co-op Financial Services, a credit union service organization, and Shared Financial Services, the service corporation of the Kansas Credit Union Association, aim to extend fee-free ATM access to Kansas CU members.

June 19, 2014

Co-op Financial Services, a credit union service organization, and Shared Financial Services, the service corporation of the Kansas Credit Union Association, have reached an agreement under which SFS will exclusively promote Co-op ATM and Co-op Shared Branch to its member credit unions.

Co-op ATM is a nationwide-network of 30,000 ATMs — 9,000 of them deposit-taking — that can be used surcharge-free by members of participating credit unions. According to a Co-op news release, it is the nation’s largest credit union-only network of ATMs. Moreover, with 5,000 "live teller" locations, Co-op Shared Branch is the only FI network with branches in all 50 states.

“We are partnering with Co-op because we wanted to provide a way for our Kansas credit unions to give their members more access points,” said Marla Marsh, president and CEO of KCUA. “The more credit unions participating, the more member access is opened in Kansas and nationwide, which is mandatory today to compete successfully. Many credit union members feel they need to close their account if they move away from Kansas. With Co-op’s nationwide access and large number of outlets, they don’t have to.”