First Nations Bank opens kiosk in Pond Inlet

First Nations Bank of Canada staff pose in front of the new kiosk in Pond Inlet at the bank’s launch Oct. 22. (PHOTO COURTESY OF FNBC)

First Nations Bank of Canada has opened a banking counter in the front hallway of Pond Inlet’s Tununiq Sauniq co-op store. (PHOTO COURTESY OF ACL)

Residents of Pond Inlet can now bank on local financial services after the First Nations Bank of Canada opened a kiosk this week in the north Baffin community.

First Nations Bank, which specializes in banking in small Aboriginal communities, inaugurated its new Community Banking Centre Oct. 22 at the community’s Tununiq Sauniq co-op store.

The FNBC now has a presence in three Nunavut communities; a full service branch in Iqaluit that opened in 2010 and another community banking centre — its first ever — that opened in Baker Lake last March.

“This is a new concept we’re targeting,” said Greig Cooper, FNBC vice-president of operations. “Using our relationship with Arctic Co-ops Limited, we’re taking space in their retail outlets and opening up a kiosk.”

The banking counter in Pond Inlet will be run by two local staff, who trained at the Iqaluit branch through the month of October, Cooper said.

The banking centre will provide most services, he added, from cashing cheques, making deposits, and issuing drafts and bank cards.

Customers who are looking for personal loans or help with credit activity can do that by phone through the bank’s Iqaluit branch, Cooper said.

The expansion of the bank into Nunavut is part of a deal signed in 2007 with Inuit-owned investment company Atuqtuarvik Corp., which purchased 20 per cent of the bank’s shares.

Atuqtuarvik made the deal primarily to bring banking services to Nunavut communities where none exist.

Baker Lake and Pond Inlet were already at the top of their list then, given the mining activity ramping up near both communities.

As part of its pilot project, FNBC now plans to open a third community banking centre in Kugluktuk in early 2015.

“We wanted to represent each region to see how it works there,” Cooper said. “There’s been a lot of interest, so we want to see how it goes. We feel banking services are vital to the North.”

If all goes well, Cooper said FNBC could bring its community banking centres to even more communities in the coming years, with hopes that they will be a good fit for Nunavut.

“We have a number of products that any other financial institution or credit union would offer, but we make an effort to understand the credit needs of Aboriginal groups, or in this case, Inuit organizations and how they operate,” he said.

FNBC operates eight branches in Canada, including a recently-opened branch in Yellowknife, and now four community banking centres.

“We are very pleased to partner with First Nations Bank of Canada to bring essential financial services to the people of the community of Pond Inlet,” said Kono Tattuinee, president of Arctic Co-operatives Ltd., in an Oct. 22 release.

“We anticipate improved financial literacy and economic benefits, through direct access to financial services, for the members of Tununiq Sauniq Co-op.”