Servus Savings Contest Winner
Edmonton Engineer Wins $1 Million Servus Prize After Moving Savings to Credit Union
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An Edmonton engineer and father of two has won $1 million simply by moving his savings. Ibukun Sobukunola, a Servus Credit Union member since 2017, is the grand prize winner of the 2026 Servus Big Share® Contest, GlobeNewswire reported on June 22. The prize money was deposited directly into his account.
"Some would call it luck. We call it God's grace," Sobukunola said, according to GlobeNewswire. "It feels like heaven smiled down on us. That amount of money puts your mind at rest."
How Moving Savings to Servus Won a Million Dollars
The Servus Big Share® Contest runs every year from January 1 to April 30. Members earn draw entries for every $500 of growth in their savings and investment balances. This year, Servus's 600,000 members saved a combined $487 million during the four-month window, according to GlobeNewswire.
Sobukunola chose to move extra savings from another financial institution over to Servus during the contest period. He credits his Servus financial advisor's personal service as the reason he made the switch. That decision turned out to be worth $1 million, The Financial Post noted.
A Nigerian Immigrant Family's Nine-Year Journey in Canada
Ibukun and his wife Yetunde moved from Nigeria to Edmonton in 2016. They joined Servus just one year later, in 2017. That makes Ibukun a nine-year member of the credit union, GlobeNewswire reported.
Yetunde plans to use the prize to secure the family's future. She also has a long-held dream of traveling to Japan, according to GlobeNewswire. The win is widely seen as a feel-good story of immigrant success, with outlets like The Crag and Canyon highlighting the family's roots.
The Contest Is Now in Its Eighth Year — and Growing
Servus launched the Big Share® Contest in 2019. It is built on a "prize-linked savings" model. Instead of earning just modest interest, members trade a small slice of that yield for a shot at a huge prize. The idea is to give people a stronger reason to save, according to analysts at Lodavo.
Past winners include a retired truck driver from Calgary in 2024 and a farm business in 2025 — the first business ever to win. The contest sits inside Servus's broader Profit Share® program, which has paid out over $943 million to members since 2009, The Financial Post reported. In 2025 alone, Servus shared $83 million in profits with its members.
$487 Million in Member Savings — and a Bigger Strategic Play
The contest is not just a feel-good promotion. It is a major tool for growing deposits. The $487 million in member savings collected in just four months gives Servus more money to lend to individuals, businesses, and farms. Servus now holds over $40 billion in assets, GlobeNewswire reported.
Canada's credit unions are also facing a big shift. In February 2026, regulators announced a "Fast-Track Initiative" that lets provincial credit unions move to federal oversight more easily. That would let Servus compete directly with big banks like RBC and TD across the country. Contests like the Big Share help attract deposits away from those banks, according to The Financial Post.
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