COAST SALISH TERRITORY and VANCOUVER, British Columbia, July 05, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Vancity today announced the launch of Load up on Local – a major campaign to support local businesses as they work to recover from the economic impacts of the pandemic.
Load up on Local includes one of the largest-ever Vancity enviro™ Visa cardholder offers to help drive spending in the local economy. Through July, August and September, cardholders can earn 50% more Vancity Rewards™ points at select local businesses among the following categories1:
- Bakeries and ice cream parlours
- Restaurants, eateries, and fast-food restaurants
- Wineries
- Second-hand stores
- Salons and barbers
- Health and beauty spas
- Tourist attractions and museums
- Local outdoor adventures
Along with a financial reward, the campaign includes advertising and toolkits for businesses focused on highlighting the ways every consumer can make a difference to their local community. The campaign encourages the public to shop, think and click local to help businesses in their community recover from the pandemic shutdowns.
“You can feel the excitement from people as the economy begins to come back to life,” said Christine Bergeron, President and CEO, Vancity. “As things open up again, we have to remember the determination and resilience of our local businesses. They took extraordinary measures and made investments to remain open and support our communities. Now they’re counting on all of us who have the means to continue supporting them.”
“Load up on Local is about more than simply saying “shop local’,” Christine said. “It’s about raising awareness and providing financial incentives to our members to support the local economy.”
According to research conducted by Vancity and the Canadian Urban Institute, more than anything, businesses want to see the public encouraged to shop local. It was the most widely cited example of a meaningful support for business owners, more popular than creating a more competitive tax environment or better access to financing.
The Load up on Local campaign is one of many supports Vancity has offered businesses throughout the pandemic. It also:
- Created tailored relief programs to support women business owners, self-employed businesses owners, and those business owners who pivoted their business to adapt to the changing environment.
- Offered deferral programs and lower interest credit card rates for impacted businesses.
- Works with Support Local BC, an online marketplace supporting small businesses.
- Has a partnership with Daily Hive to profile local businesses.
- Provided support for BIAs across British Columbia through Vancity’s Shared Success Program.
About Vancity
Vancity is a values-based financial co-operative serving the needs of its more than 550,000 member-owners and their communities, with offices and 55 branches located in Metro Vancouver, the Fraser Valley, Victoria, Squamish and Alert Bay, within the territories of the Coast Salish and Kwakwaka’wakw people. With $30.5 billion in assets plus assets under administration, Vancity is Canada’s largest community credit union. Vancity uses its assets to help improve the financial well-being of its members while at the same time helping to develop healthy communities that are socially, economically and environmentally sustainable.
For more information, visit forceforchange.vancity.com/offers/loaduponlocal
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TM Vancity Rewards and enviro are trademarks of Vancouver City Savings Credit Union.
* Trademark of Visa Int., used under license.
1You will earn 50% more base Rewards Points per $1 on eligible purchases made with a Vancity enviro Visa card with Vancity Rewards from July 1, 2021 to September 30, 2021 (the “Offer”). Eligibility is based on the merchant code as classified under the Visa credit card network. Eligible purchases are those made at merchants classified by the Visa credit card network as: Bakeries (MCC 5462) are “Bakeries and ice cream parlors”; (ii) Eating Places and Restaurants (MCC 5812); and Fast Food Restaurants (MCC 5814) are “Restaurants, eateries, and fast food restaurants”; (iii) Tourist Attractions and Exhibits (MCC 7991); Aquariums, Seaquariums, Dolphinariums, and Zoos (MCC 7998) are “Wineries”, “Tourist attractions and museums” and “Local outdoor adventures”; (iv) Used Merchandise and Secondhand Stores (MCC 5931) are “Second-hand stores”; (v) Barber and Beauty Shops (MCC 7230) are “Salons & barbers”; (vi) Health and Beauty Spas (MCC 7298) are “Health & beauty spas”. Some merchants may sell these products/services or are separate merchants who are located on the premises of these merchants but are classified by the Visa credit card network in another manner, in which case the accelerated earn rate will not apply. If your Vancity enviro Visa card already has an accelerated earn rate in these select merchant categories, you will only receive points for the higher accelerated earn rate. For example, if you have a Vancity enviro Visa Infinite card that earns 1.25 Points with every $1 purchase, and has an accelerated earn rate of 2.5 Points with every $1 purchase at bakeries, which is 2x the base points (1.25 Points x 2 = 2.5 Points) and is a higher accelerated earn rate than the Offer which is 1.5x the base points, then you will earn 2.5 Points with every $1 purchase at bakeries, and the Offer will not apply. The Offer does not apply to Vancity enviro Visa credit cards without Vancity Rewards, or to cards issued by Vancity Community Investment Bank.