16 - Reinventing Commercial Banking for Good

The Impact Investing Podcast

Commercial banking isn’t exactly known for being a warm and fuzzy business. Financial institutions provide a wide range of banking services to businesses large and small. However, existing banks and financial services providers often employ very standardized approaches that don't serve all businesses equally well. This is particularly apparent in commercial lending where start-ups and early-stage businesses, especially those with non-traditional business models (i.e. social enterprises), have great trouble securing financing. In this episode of the podcast, Jay-Ann Gilfroy, CEO of Vancity Community Investment Bank (VCIB) joins us to discuss the challenges in traditional commercial finance and how VCIB is inventing a kind, more purpose-driven approach. During our conversation, we also discuss VCIB's recent acquisition of CoPower (be sure to listen to episode 11 from last year where I discuss CoPower's green bonds with Trish Nixon), and the launch of VCIB's newest impact investment, the Unity GIC.

You can connect with Vancity/VCIB on their website, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. You can connect with Jay-Ann on LinkedIn.

Also, don't forget that the Responsible Investment Association's annual conference is coming up, June 8 - 12th. You can register at www.riaconference.ca.