Kindred Connects: Your Money and Community Matters

Fostering the Real Economy: Enhancing our Relationships

Written by Kindred Credit Union | May 4, 2023 12:46:33 Z PM

The Global Alliance for Banking on Values (GABV) is a group of more than 65 financial institutions from around the world working together to deliver sustainable economic, social, and environmental development to close to 60 million customers.

Every loan or investment has an impact on our future, for better or worse. Kindred’s membership in GABV provides a window into the crucial conversations and innovative ideas taking root in visionary financial institutions around the world. We’re a small player on the global scale, yet our commitment to values-centred, faith-inspired banking propels us to speak loudly and to act locally.

GABV uses the term “real economy” as a principle to help ground us in community and focus our service on members’ direct needs. This contrasts with the layered financial economy, where an investment or loan may pass through several institutions before eventually being used by a business in service to a community. While some of these layers are important at a macro level to our economy, focusing on closer connections reinforces real relationships.

At Kindred, we’re committed to being good stewards of our members’ resources. This includes financial assets as well as human connections, local knowledge, digital infrastructure, and physical spaces. As we build the technologies and systems that improve the speed and efficiency of our services, we’re working to enhance the relationships with our members and community partners so that we become better equipped to live out our purpose. We’re connecting values and faith with finances in a real economy of real relationships, inspiring peaceful, just, and prosperous communities.

-John Klassen
Chief, Finance and Compliance
Kindred Credit Union