Fat Cat: My First Bank Account

September 15, 2025

No it isn't Garfield. Kids who grew up in Harewood may remember this Fat Cat as the mascot of the Nanaimo Credit Union's bank accounts for kids.

My very first bank account was opened in the building attached to the Mid-Island Co-op grocery store in Harewood.

I remember the Nanaimo Credit Union location being INSIDE the Co-op building, at a walk-up counter next to the hardware store, before it was sectioned off into its own proper bank-like location (but still attached to the Co-op).

Oh the fun I had spending money I had saved in my Fat Cat account from my Nanaimo Bulletin and Daily Free Press delivery jobs, usually on comics from Island Fantasy on Commercial Street.

Photos courtesy of the Nanaimo Archives.