B.C. credit union Coast Capital Savings today announced it is eliminating all rate negotiation on term deposit and mortgage products in favour of offering consumers its best rates upfront.

The credit union says its “haggle-free guarantee” is one more step to modernize the financial services industry.

The decision comes in response to customer surveys.

“People are telling us that rate negotiation on term deposits or mortgages can be intimidating, complicated and time consuming and that it interferes with their overall service experience,” said Lloyd Craig, Coast Capital president and CEO, in a release.

Although the credit union’s research suggests that women, younger investors and those with less funds will find the no-negotiation best-rate offer particularly attractive, the credit union is confident it will be welcomed by all consumers.

A December 2005 Ipsos Reid poll for Coast Capital found that 58% of Canadians said they dislike negotiating in general.

In other findings, 60% of Canadians said they would be more likely to do business with a financial institution offering everyone the same rate for all term deposits and one that eliminated the negotiating process.

As well, 61% of Canadians feel that preferential term deposit rates for those investing more is unfair.

The new haggle-free guarantee takes a page from “no-dicker sticker” policies of leading automobile dealerships that have generated increased sales by promising a stress-free buying experience based on a competitive, fixed price.

The Ipsos Reid survey on term deposits and mortgages was conducted by telephone from November 29 through December 4, 2005. It interviewed 1,270 Canadians 18 years and older and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.7%, nineteen times out of twenty.

Coast Capital Savings is Canada’s second largest credit union with $7.2 billion in assets and 46 branches across the B.C. Lower Mainland, Fraser Valley and Vancouver Island.