Valley First

Valley First

Company type	Credit Union
Industry	Financial services
Founded	Penticton & District Credit Union: 1947 Valley First Credit Union: 1983 Valley First Credit Union and Envision Financial (1946) merged as First West Credit Union (2010)
Headquarters	Penticton, British Columbia , Canada
Key people	Paulo Araujo, President
Website	valleyfirst.com

Valley First, a division of First West Credit Union, is based in British Columbia, Canada. Founded in Penticton in 1947 as the Penticton and District Credit Union, Valley First was established in 1983 following a period of expansion through the Okanagan and Similkameen valleys. Valley First continued its growth into the Kelowna market throughout the 1990s, before amalgamating with the Armstrong Spallumcheen Savings and Credit Union and buying the KCP Credit Union in Kamloops in 2001.^[1]

In 2008, Valley First entered into discussions with Langley-based Envision Financial to merge with one another and develop a new financial services organization for Western Canada. In September 2009, members at both credit unions voted in favour of the merger proposal, and on Jan. 1, 2010, Envision Financial and Valley First merged to become First West Credit Union. In 2013, Enderby & District Credit Union joined First West Credit Union, followed by Island Savings Credit Union in 2015.

First West Credit Union has $14 billion in total assets and assets under management, approximately 1,250 employees and more than 250,000 members. The credit union is the third largest in B.C. and the fifth largest in Canada.^[2] Its divisions—Envision Financial, Valley First, Island Savings and Enderby & District Financial—operate under their existing brand names in their respective markets.