Credit Unions: Official MoneySavingExpert.com Discussion

Hi Martin,

Credit Unions, in Britain, have been around for many years and have helped many hundreds of thousands of people through out the years who would have been denied access to loans from the main line institutions. They have helped people lift themselves out of poverty and debt by offering them a savings account that will allow them to save from as little as a £1 a week up to what ever they could have afford. It has come to the forefront in recent years, which is evidenced in many reports by goverment offices and eminent scholars in this area, that to help people lift themselves out of poverty and stay above that line requires that they build up savings to get by during hard times or when faced with an unexpected expense rather than take on debt that they can ill afford. Credit unions have been doing that for over 100 years worldwide, so why are people still slow to join up.

Well that could be that over the years many people have tried to promote the Credit Unions, all well intentioned but very few have the credence that you and your campaigns have aroused in goodness knows how many citizens of this country. I am not asking that you promote Credit Unions just that you highlight them as being an alternative that people should consider. Just by promoting that view publicly here on your site and on TV or radio will raise the awareness of the movement no end simply because people listen to you because you have shown that you are a champion of the people where injustice is evident.

Although your atricle is an excellent piece of work I would like to point out that there are hundreds of credit unions across the country doing sterling work but they may not be anywhere near the size of those you mentioned but with your support and people realising that Credit Unions are a viable alternative, an ethical alternative, run by and for their members and not to line the pockets of shareholders these smaller credit unions will become larger and offer more and more products / services to meet their growing memberships needs. For to long Credit Unions have been dogged as being " a poor mans Bank" but that is being dissapated as more and more people who have good incomes come to realise that they really are worth considering.
I am not going to go on about all the reasons why people should join their nearest credit union but I would like to highlight another area in which they, to me anyway, excel. Behind every credit union there is a back bone of volunteers who give up their time freely because they believe strongly in what the credit union is doing. So not only do credit unions offer a financial solution for many they also take on board new volunteers, train them, nuture them give them back their self esteem and boost their confidence to the point that many go back into the work place and onto succesfull careers in many different fields. Most will remain members of their credit unions and most will attempt to continue some voluntary work when they can spare the time.

So as you can see credit unions really are good for the people, we are here to serve and help all who live, work within our communities. Experience the credit union difference today you won't regret it!:j

I have a credit union account and I put in £10 a month. This is a small part of my savings. I like the credit union but there are a number of problems.

1. No internet or telephone banking.
2. It is policy that they will not send anything through the post including statements to avoid identity fraud.
3. I have to go into the branch to check on my money.
4. The website is not updated in years.
5. They don't respond to emails.

I have read that someone wants to put their salary into a credit union I would advise against that as you would lose some of the benefits you have with a bank for example when my card went missing I phoned the bank and got it cancelled straight away.

What I would is if you have money put some of it like £10 a month into a credit union and keep the rest of it with a conventional bank or a building society or another non profit.

My one also has a pass book. However running a day to day account without 24 hours access is a major problem.

The thing about the pass book is that it is not much use when you transfer money via BACS. I was told by my credit union that they charge a fee for BACS transfers from them but to them is free.

I am not sure if they are trying to get people like me not to attend AGMs or not? The reason why I ask this is that I am not a regular visitor to the branch and as they don't send letters how am I supposed to find out about AGMs?

I am a saver and not interested in the ethical side of the CU. I do have ethical financial products but not with the credit union.

For info, this site http://www.lenderscompared.org.uk/ will give details of you local Credit Union and compare them to evil 'Home Credit' organisations like Provident.