Catholic Super revs Transcomm

Transcomm Credit Union is negotiating an "evolving strategic relationship" with Catholic Super Fund, an alliance intended to allay the weak capital and high cost base of the Melbourne-based ADI.

Transcomm is one of the few credit unions trading in the red, recording a loss of A$220,000 over the year to June 2014, compared with a loss of $85,000 in 2013. It has $73 million in assets.

Andrew Blyth, chair of Transcomm, wrote in the annual report that it entered talks with Catholic Super two years ago and those "discussions have resulted in Transcomm and Catholic Super entering into what has been an evolving strategic relationship."

In September this led Catholic Super to invest $2 million in subordinated debt in the credit union. The industry super fund is also now a reseller of some credit union products.

Blyth said the super fund's investment in tier two capital "will allow your credit union to grow rapidly."

Neither Transcomm nor Catholic Super responded to requests to elaborate on this cooperation.