Celebrating sixty years of supporting the community Special SIX DECADES OF GMCU… From left (back), GMCU Branch Managers, Lonnie Roberts (Numurkah), Dave Drummond (Seymour), Jane Holt (Echuca), John Gilbert (Euroa) and Jenni Cogger (Benalla). (Front), Bronwyn Fyfe (Kilmore), Dallas Moore (Shepparton), Sharna Papoulis (Mooroopna) and absent, Jenni Dunne (Kyabram). Photo: Alicia Niglia. 2015 marks the sixtieth anniversary of central Victoria s member-owned Benalla; members of the parish pooled their and Kyabram banking institution the Goulburn Murray Credit Union (GMCU) savings so that those in need could gain In time, the credit unions moved away access to financial assistance from their parish roots, opening up new Back in 1955, credit unions were initiated financial freedom by saving money, so that The credit union movement grew opportunities for whole communities The to assist those within the community that more people within the community could strongly and before long other co-op independent organisations established the big banks wouldn t help; today the find themselves in a position to borrow owned credit unions began to appear boards and soon became regulated by the GMCU continues to focus on that simple Sixty years ago a simple co-operative across Victoria; in Seymour, then Victorian Financial Institutions Commission philosophy local people building their was started by a local church parish in Shepparton North, Shepparton South Continued on page 9 Proud partners in local banking A wealth of experience in: Family Law Commercial Disputes Wills and Estates Business and Leasing Farms and Water Planning Real Estate Mediation 65 Nixon St, Shepparton 5821 0777 www.smrlegal.com.au SMR Legal’s commercial and property team from left; Stephen Merrylees, Kelli Ritchie, Cassie Wallace, Mary Stewart, Nicole Demase, Nina O’Brien, Alex Sheed-Finck and W lliam Gubbins. Q and A with René On Pete Leahy s eti ement, the boa d appointed me gene a manage . My backg ound know edge of the many diffe ent facets of the business had given me a wea th of expe ience; guess that s what has enab ed me to fi this o e. was ucky to wo k unde both Roy Smith and Pete Leahy, they we e g eat mento s.” Q. You must have seen a lot of changes in your 42 years with the business; can you tell us GMCU Gene a Manage , René Deen has been about the most noteable? with the c edit union fo mo e than 42 yea s, A. “Things we e a ot simp e in the ea y days. The Adviser caught up with René to ta k a things As te e s, we ea y just p ocessed cash and GMCU… cheques fo ou custome s and oans we e a Q. How did you come to work for the credit ot sma e . Compute s have p obab y been union, René? the biggest change. Ove time compute s have A. “The Sheppa ton C edit Union was ooking fo changed se vice channe s, ike EFTPOS, ATMs, a manage which b ash y thought; because of nte net Banking, di ect payments and di ect YOUR LOCAL GMCU… GMCU Loans Manager, Ken Kilsby, Compliance Manager, Brett my banking backg ound, wou d app y fo . sti debits. Peop e don t necessa i y have to visit Elgar, General Manager, René Deen, Finance Manager, Rebecca Hearn, Operations eca Pete Naughton conducting the inte view. a b anch now that eve ything is on ine; the Manager, Peter Thomas and IT Manager, Paul Cross. Photo: Alicia Niglia. As it happened, they we e ooking fo somebody b anch used to be a bit of a p ace to catch up, with a management backg ound, but sti got peop e a ways an into each othe in the bank ucky and was appointed as a te e . and enjoyed a chat to a te e - in fact the e s a ot t was a foot in the doo and sta ting f om the that sti do.” bottom was a g eat ea ning cu ve; st ong y Q. What is it that has kept you working for the Head office on advise the youth of today to not shy away f om a GMCU for all these years, René? bottoms up sta t.” A. “ ve a ways oved the concept of peop e Q. How has your career progressed with the suppo ting peop e, that togethe with the GMCU? ext ao dina y g owth within the business which a regional scale A. “ t s been a natu a evo ution ea y, afte my changed the andscape constant y. expe ience in custome se vice, spent time A so, ve a ways been fo tunate enough to UNLIKE a lot of financial institutions whose head offices are based in our in va ious o es, f om supe viso , to b anch wo k with both a dedicated, functiona boa d capital cities, the GMCU s head office is regionally located in central Victoria manage , T, oans, ma keting, managing of di ecto s and have a st ong and ha dwo king ope ations and then deputy gene a manage . management team who sha e ou vision.” The head office is co-located with credit union s own finances including the GMCU Shepparton branch on liquidity and capital strategies and Fryers Street and manages all aspects also the processing of member of the credit union s operations transactions We Congratulate including strategic planning “Our compliance department ensures and implementation, regulatory that the credit union s procedures are compliance, IT, personnel, lending within both legislation and prudential David and Staff control and premises banking standards as well as working GMCU General Manager, René Deen closely with the audit team who said, “Our head office on Fryers Street monitors member transactions against on their would like to houses our executive managers as suspect or fraudulent activity well as all of our operations, finance, “The IT department is responsible congratulate compliance, IT and loans teams for an extensive network of hardware “In total, our head office consists of and software that supports our core just eleven staff, local faces that know banking activities and the loans team Goulburn how to simplify the process are responsible for loan approvals “Our operations team looks after and credit control our personnel, along with sales, “It means a lot to our members that Murray product management and any large we are, and continue to remain local 60 scale projects to them, they benefit from feeling like YEAR Credit Union “The finance team manages the a member – not a number ” ANNIVERSARY on their 60th GGIB highly values its relationship and partnership Anniversary with one of the most vital cogs in the Goulburn Murray economy Quality & Tradition Howard Cabinets T. 03 5821 7777 F. 03 5822 2916 301 Allan Street, Kyabram E. [email protected] www.ggib.com.au M. 0438 523 913 P. 5853 2322 22 Welsford Street, Shepparton, 3630 Page 2 – Special GMCU 60th Anniversary Edition - September 2015 Fraud, a proven growth industry FRAUDSTERS are always keen to find ways to exploit the system or gain access to innocent people s money Usually, people first see increased activity in spam emails and phone calls; fraudsters are renowned for setting up an urgent scenario that usually results in someone downloading something to their PC or disclosing a bank code or card number Fraud is a proven growth industry; they authorised the transactions and this is something the GMCU has if something seems suspicious we can recognised and as a result, the put a hold on any transactions or cards institution has invested significantly to prevent any further transactions in fraud control as a priority, following occurring whilst an issue is resolved a well-refined process and taking “We have also implemented a strategic steps to identify fraud second factor authentication on attempts and stop fraudsters in their internet payments to new payees, tracks where a unique SMS code is required The GMCU uses a unique software before a payment is made system, called Fraud Interceptor “Since implementing this function, that looks for unusual or suspect the result has been - absolutely transactions; this could result in an no internet banking fraud, where email or SMS to a member, all suspect our member has registered for this transactions are investigated by a service and in fact, some members dedicated Fraud Officer have contacted us to say that they GMCU Compliance Manager Brett received the SMS but were not making Elgar said, “We use specific tools to a payment look at card patterns that match known “In these cases we have been able to BE PROTECTED FROM FRAUD… GMCU Compliance Manager, Brett Elgar and Fraud fraud activity or online purchases that tell the member that they have possibly Offi cer, Jennifer Wilson. Photo: Alicia Niglia. fail verification just prevented fraudulent activity from “We contact our members happening and we can then take steps immediately, so they can let us know if to lock-out the fraudster permanently ” Products to suit all your needs… Let the GMCU help you better manage your accounts LOCALLY owned and run, the GMCU is a community institution that has been meeting the financial needs of its customers since 1955; now offering a huge breadth of products and services that are designed to meet the needs of its entire member base, regardless of their financial position. The Directors & Staff of From transaction and straightforward Christmas expenses – members accounts that can help manage your can make regular deposits Opteon Property Group salary, to high interest investment throughout the year until funds wish the GMCU sincere congratulati ons on accounts, the branch staff at the GMCU are released in November the signifi cant achievement of their 60th are there to advise you of the account • An iSave Account, a that best suits your needs savings account accessed anniversary, and for being such an integral Talk to your local branch staff about: exclusively online part of the greater Shepparton community.