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We are a credit card issuer dedicated to serving mid-sized financial institutions and their customers.

Collabria Financial Renews Partnership with Co-op Solutions to Buoy Competitive Credit Products

Two companies deliver digital payments that deepen member engagement, improve member experience.

March 9, 2023

RANCHO CUCAMONGA, California – Collabria Financial, Canada’s largest B2B2C digital credit payments issuer, has renewed its long-time partnership with Co-op Solutions for Full-Service Credit processing.

“It’s our promise to deliver flexible and reliable credit payments solutions that foster improved member experiences, translating into sustainable long-term value for our credit union partners,” said Jean-Marc Handfield, CEO, Collabria. “The continued partnership with Co-op equips Collabria to move forward with our relentless pursuit to support our partners in their evolution within the payments industry.”

Handfield sees credit as a critical payments product for credit unions as they support the modern member journey. “Digital solutions that are flexible and trustworthy foster improved member experiences,” he said. “As our clients evolve their payments strategies to deepen active member engagement, we need to bring advanced processing power to the table. Co-op allows us to do just that.”

Driven by cooperative values, Collabria Financial was established in 2015 to deliver competitive and compelling credit programs to mid-sized banks and credit unions. Collabria combines flexibility for financial institutions with the scale and expertise needed to deliver an increasingly complex product in a highly competitive market.

“Working alongside proven innovators within the international credit union movement is foundational to Co-op’s growth strategy,” said Todd Clark, CEO, Co-op. “Collabria’s history of transforming ideas into action has permeated the organization’s culture. Their dedication to providing solutions to marketplace needs is strongly aligned with Co-op’s philosophy, which makes for a great partnership.”

Co-op Full-Service Credit is a fully hosted and managed payments program that’s customized to credit union needs and optimized for operational simplicity. For more information on the Co-op ecosystem of financial technology products and services visit www.co-opfs.org/Solutions. 

About Collabria Financial

Collabria Financial offers a competitive and compelling credit card program to 97 percent of the credit unions in Canada as well as a number of mid-sized financial institutions across Canada. Collabria combines flexibility for credit unions and financial institutions with the scale and expertise needed to deliver an increasingly complex product in a highly competitive market. For more information, visit www.collabriafinancial.ca.

Our Story

Collabria Financial was established in 2015 to fulfill a significant need in the Canadian credit card market – a credit card issuer dedicated to serving mid-sized financial institutions and their customers. With this gap in the market being identified, forward-thinking credit unions, including Desjardins, set forth to create Collabria.

From the beginning, when Collabria was just an idea, every aspect of our formation was designed to offer a competitive and compelling credit card program on behalf of mid-sized banks and credit unions. By operating as a subsidiary of Desjardins, we benefit from the strength and experience of one of Canada's oldest financial institutions, driven by its cooperative values for over 120 years, while separating the unique needs of B2B2C clients from Desjardins’ self-issued card portfolio.

Today, Collabria serves over 97% of all credit unions in Canada, Schedule I banks and other financial providers. Collabria combines flexibility for financial institutions with the scale and expertise needed to deliver an increasingly complex product in a highly competitive market.

Our Owners

Collabria’s unique ecosystem benefits from the partnership of Desjardins and Co-op Solutions. Both Desjardins and Co-op are cooperative financial institutions owned by their member organizations.

Desjardins Group is the largest cooperative financial group in North America and the fifth largest cooperative financial group in the world, with assets of $389.3 billion. In  2020 it was ranked as one of the world’s Top 100 Employers by Forbes magazine. To meet the diverse needs of its members and clients, Desjardins offers a full range of products and services to individuals and businesses through its extensive distribution network, online platforms and subsidiaries across Canada. Ranked among the world’s strongest banks according to The Banker magazine, Desjardins has one of the highest capital ratios and credit ratings in the industry.

Co-op Solutions is a global provider of technology and payments solutions for credit unions. Processing over 7 billion transactions annually, Co-op is one of North America's largest card processors.


Our Commitment To Social Responsibility

As a subsidiary of Desjardins, Collabria is backed by the strength of a collective group moving towards a more human economy and sustainable community development.

In order to meet the needs of our cardholders and clients, Collabria includes social, environmental, and governance issues in our strategic planning and is a key focus in the relationships with our partners.

Learn more

Our Leadership Team

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Jean-Marc Handfield
Chief Executive Officer

Jean-Marc is a dynamic, seasoned strategist with over 15 years of results-driven leadership in the Canadian credit union financial sector.

Prior to joining Collabria, Jean-Marc held a series of senior executive roles, including Vice President of Payment Solutions and Vice President of Community Member Service at Vancity.

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Nita Powers
Chief Client Experience Officer

Nita is a card program enthusiast who works to find the win-win relationship that delivers value to customers/members, generates revenue, and brings client strategies to life.

Nita’s payment industry experience includes both issuing and acquiring, loyalty programs, product management, emerging solutions, and includes both Canadian and international experiences including over a decade within Canada’s mid-market.

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Michel Iorio
Chief Growth Officer

Michel is a true change agent whose passion for delivering results and inspired leadership has driven growth and success since beginning his journey with Collabria in January 2020 as Head of Client Services. With an inherent focus and energy primed to build upon momentum, Michel has championed transformation through insightful, client-centric collaboration.

Prior to his role at Collabria, Michel worked with Mastercard in account management and consulting, managing strategic relationships for the network. Michel’s leadership in the payment sector was also developed during his time at American Express. 

Chad Schultz
Chad Schultz
Chief Operating Officer

Chad is an energetic and effective leader, who believes that "good enough" is never good enough. Believer in people and their ability to achieve their potential through ensuring that well-being and integrity are supported by inspiration and curiosity.

Chad brings 15+ years of broad experience in financial services, telecommunications, and insurance. He excels in organizations that have a mandate to change and has the ability to bring structure and calm to chaotic situations, mobilizing people toward a common goal and facilitating success. He is passionate about the opportunities created through digital technologies, having expertise in launching credit card platforms, digital payments and related technologies.

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Chantal Lussier
Chief Financial Officer

Chantal has over 25 years of experience building and leading finance teams. She began her career with Desjardins and spent several years in finance and operating roles. Chantal has participated in the implementation of various projects and new activities.

Before working with Collabria, Chantal led a finance team in charge of the credit card activities for Desjardins. This has allowed her to develop an in-depth knowledge of the credit card business.

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Greg Feniak
Chief Marketing Officer

Greg is a seasoned leader in the financial and payments industry, with over 20 years of experience driving change. Greg brings a wealth of knowledge in marketing, product management, communications, and strategy development to the Collabria team.

Most recently, Greg has worked with Prairie Payments Joint Venture as the Vice President of Strategy & Engagement, leading business development and strategic partnership activities. His leadership and experience has supported the evolution of payment services within the credit union system and the delivery of new solutions for credit unions and financial organizations across Canada.

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Serge Léger
Senior Strategic Advisor to the CEO

Serge is a seasoned leader in the financial services sector with over two decades experience in business operations, planning, corporate strategy, marketing, and analytics. His journey at Collabria began as Chief Marketing Officer where his spirit of collaboration, innovation, and belief in building a strong credit card program was instrumental in establishing a modern, data driven, operationalized marketing function.

Prior to joining Collabria, Serge held a series of senior leadership positions including Vice-President of Marketing & Member Innovation at Prospera Credit Union and Head of Business Planning & Strategy at HSBC Bank, Canada’s largest foreign bank.

Claudia Jomphe
Doug Macdonald
Chief Strategy Officer

For over two decades Doug has worked with Canada's financial services industry to make it more competitive. Doug brings the lessons learned working with global financial institutions, large domestic banks, payment networks and technology providers to our payments and mid-market banking industries.

Prior to joining Collabria, Doug served as a senior leader in Deloitte's strategy consulting practice and as a partner and credit union consulting leader at MNP, Canada's largest domestic professional services firm.

Claudia Jomphe
Claudia Jomphe
Chief Risk Officer

With a degree in finance and in financial planning, Claudia has been working in the banking industry for over 25 years. After holding various positions for different financial institutions, from business development to marketing, Claudia joined Desjardins in 2014 to contribute to various projects surrounding risk management, a field in which Claudia has accumulated over 15 years of experience.

Her mandate as Chief Risk Officer for Collabria is to ensure adequate risk governance and the proper functioning of risk measurement and monitoring systems for Collabria. A manager for over 12 years, Claudia enjoys building teams and contributing to the evolution and development of people.

Collabria Careers

Realize your full potential with our growing client-focused team, backed by the strength of Canada's largest cooperative financial institution.

Ready for your next challenge?

Collabria offers rewarding careers in the following functions:

  • Marketing & Product
  • Relationship Management
  • Operations
  • Finance
  • Risk & Compliance

Why Collabria?

Join an organization that gives you the support you need to achieve your professional goals through:

  • Hybrid work
  • Competitive salary
  • Annual bonus based on the organization’s performance
  • Professional development and mentoring
  • Reimbursement of physical and mental health expenses
  • Competitive compensation package, including participation in Desjardins’ exceptional support and benefits

Browse openings

Collabria is proud to offer rewarding careers from coast to coast. With business and operational centres in Burnaby, Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto and Montreal, and mobile relationship management teams across the country, many of our positions can be performed from any location in Canada.

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