We speak up as advocates for access to affordable financial services for underserved individuals and communities.

Over the past 15 years as many as 10 bank branches have been closed in Winnipeg’s inner city, leaving thousands of people without easy access to affordable financial services. In 1997, a number of concerned community organizations, including ACU, formed the Alternative Financial Services Coalition to address these issues and find solutions. Over the years, ACU has been part of building these solutions, which include Asset Building Programs and the recently launched Community Financial Services Centre.

In April 2007 we were invited to participate as part of a ‘witness panel’ to Manitoba’s Public Utilities Board “Government Cheque Cashing Hearings (pdf document)”. The hearings addressed the high cost many underserved people pay to cheque cashing outlets by establishing a maximum fee for cashing government cheques.