Every year, Desjardins gives a cash amount to its members, whether they are individuals or businesses. This is a portion of the financial surpluses produced by the caisses and Desjardins Group redistributed in the form of patronage refunds.
If you are a Desjardins member, you may have already benefited from this rebate. After all, 97% of the members of this financial cooperative will be able to benefit from it this year.
If, however, the operation of this Desjardins advantage remains to be clarified and you want to better understand its workings, here are answers to the most frequently asked questions about the rebate.
The rebate is intended to recognize the overall business relationship between Desjardins and its members. The principle is simple: part of the surplus money generated by this financial cooperative is redistributed to members once a year if conditions allow.
The dividend is a symbolic return to thank the members for their involvement in the cooperative. This is one of the things that sets Desjardins apart from other financial institutions.
As a member of a caisse, you can receive the dividend. The amount of money you have or the value of your products does not affect your eligibility, but may affect the amount of your rebate. This year, thanks to the changes made by Desjardins, 72,000 more members will receive a dividend.
The individual rebate is made up of two components: the volume rebate and the product rebate.
First, the volume discount is calculated according to your financial participation in your caisse. A personalized amount is issued according to a calculation that is based on the premiums and average balances in each of these four product families during the year:
For every $1,000, an amount is added to your Volume Rebate. For credit cards, the calculation is made on the net purchases made on your card during the year.
Members age 30 and under are eligible if they have at least one product in three of the four families, such as a chequing account, credit card and renters home insurance (or investment).
As for the Product Rebate, if you own at least one eligible product in each of the four product families named above, you can receive up to an additional $50. A total of $387 million will be given in individual patronage dividends in 2022 for the year 2021.
This rebate aims to support local initiatives that improve the quality of life of communities. This year, $53 million will be given in dividends to the community.
Caisses across Quebec donate amounts of money through their Community Development Fund to help communities launch new projects.
For example, in 2021, the Fonds d’aide au développement du milieu de la caisse de Drummondville took part in the Buy local campaign Ça va bien acheter à Drummondville by donating $50,000. A sum of money that has made it possible to support retail businesses, fitness centers and entertainment businesses in the MRC thanks to enhanced shopping vouchers. This initiative has promoted 107 participating merchants thanks to the commitment of partners.
This year, the dividend will be distributed from May 30 to June 10, 2022 and most members should see it increase, since a total of $54 million more will be paid out.
Find out more about the Desjardins rebate by visiting the financial institution’s website.
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