Recipients included recreational and sports groups, education causes, social causes, arts and culture, special interest service organizations, and health causes. While consumers want multi-application cards, the smart cards can only act as payment cards at present. Canada's national credit union movement and the Quebec credit union movement backed the project along with four banks. More work must be done to replace merchant terminals and create other infrastructure to support many applications before the cards will be viable. Even the cost of replacing current credit cards with the smart cards is prohibitive.
Members access the service through the credit union's Internet portal.
The addition of Community Savings brings the number of credit unions offering online trading with Credential Direct to more than 50. Credential Direct was launched in October 2000. That translates to earnings of 45 cents per share, compared with 41 cents per share for the same period last year. The increase reflects scheduled maturities of higher priced institutional deposits generated during 2000.