Vocabulary

Co-op member

• A co-op member is an individual member of a cooperative that belongs to S Group's membership scheme.

Co-op member household

• A co-op member household consists of the co-op member and other individuals belonging to the same household who accrue common Bonus and payment-method benefit.

Co-op member benefits

• Benefits offered to co-op members, such as Bonus, payment-method benefit, product and service benefits, member mailing, interest on membership fee and return on surplus.

Member mailing

• Member mailing is sent home to a co-op member who actively uses S Group's services.Among other things, it contains a Bonus calculation, messages from the cooperative, information on co-op member benefits and either the Yhteishyvä or Samarbete magazine.

Regional cooperative

• S Group's basic operational units comprise SOK Corporation and a total of 21 regional cooperatives owned by their respective co-op members and operating in various regions.The purpose of regional cooperatives is to produce services that satisfy their co-op members' basic needs in regionally led chain units within their own operational areas.

• In addition to regional cooperatives, eight small local cooperatives also belong to S Group, two of which have joined the national co-op membership scheme.

Bonus

• Bonus is a purchase reward that is paid for purchases made within S Group and from its partners.The amount of Bonus is determined by the total monthly purchases of the co-op member household and the cooperative-specific, progressive Bonus table.The Bonus to be paid to a co-op member is always calculated based on the Bonus table of their respective membership cooperative.

Bonus sales outlet

• A sales outlet of S Group or one of its partners where Bonus accrues.

Council of Representatives

• A cooperative's highest decision-making body is its Council of Representatives, chosen through an election. All co-op members are able to vote in the Council of Representative elections.

Payment account for benefits

• Cooperatives pay cash benefits, such as Bonus, into a co-op member's designated payment account for benefits in S-Bank.

Member

• A person or a community that has paid the cooperative membership fee.A co-op member is an individual member of a cooperative that belongs to S Group's membership scheme.

Payment-method benefit

• Payment-method benefit is a co-op member benefit of 0.5 per cent which is given on the total sum of purchases paid for with an S-Etukortti card in S Group's shops in Finland.Payment-method benefit accrues on all purchases belonging to the payment-method benefit scheme that are paid for with any of the S-Etukortti cards of all individuals in a co-op member household.The accrued payment-method benefit is paid to the S-Bank payment account for benefits that belongs to the main member of the co-op member household.

Membership fee

• Membership in a cooperative requires payment of a membership fee.The membership fee is an investment in the cooperative's capital and, according to the rules, it will be refunded in case of resignation.

• Most cooperatives do not require that the membership fee be paid in full at once. Instead, it can be paid in instalments.The rest of the membership fee can be accrued with Bonus or paid in cash within the payment term defined in the rules.

Interest on membership fee

• A cooperative may decide to distribute profits to its co-op members.Surplus resulting from business activities may be returned, for example, by paying interest on the membership fees invested by the members.The decision on payment of interest on membership fees is made annually by the cooperative's Council of Representatives on the Board's proposal.

S-Etukortti card

• An S-Etukortti card is a cooperative's membership card and a sign of co-op membership.With an S-Etukortti cash card, you can get Bonus as well as product and service benefits.It is also possible to add various payment options offered by S-Bank to the S-Etukortti card.

Payment account for benefits

• Cooperatives pay cash benefits, such as Bonus, into a co-op member's designated payment account for benefits in S-Bank.

Partners

• A company that has signed a cooperation agreement with a cooperative belonging to S Group or with SOK. When making product or service purchases from this company, co-op members can accrue Bonus or receive other benefits.

Return of surplus

• A cooperative's Council of Representatives may annually decide to distribute return of surplus if the requirements placed on it by the rules are fulfilled.Return of surplus is calculated according to the percentage decided upon by the Council of Representatives based on the membership-related purchases that were made in the cooperative's own outlets during the calculation year in question and were included in the Bonus calculation.