Credit Unions

FROSTYFRECKLE

HI ALL,

HAVE BEEN AN AVID READER OF THIS A SITE FOR A LONG WHILE AND WISH IT HAD BEEN AROUND 12 YEARS AGO, ANYWAY, ONE THING I HAVE NOTICED IS NOBODY TALKS ABOUT CREDIT UNIONS! I LOVE MY CREDIT UNION - SCOTWEST CREDIT UNION - OPEN TO ANYONE LIVING OR WORKING WITHIN STRATHCLYDE REGION. MY CURRENT ACCOUNT AND SAVINGS ARE WITH SCOTWEST, NO CHARGE FOR RUNNING THE CURRENT ACCOUNT, GOOD RATES OF INTEREST FOR SAVINGS PLUS THE YEARLY DIVIDEND ON THE SAVINGS :j
CREDIT UNIONS DO CREDIT CHECKS ON EVERYONE - IF YOU ARE APPLYING FOR A LOAN, MORTGAGE ETC. THERE ARE NO OVERDRAFT FACILITIES WITH THE CURRENT ACCOUNT. AM I JUST LUCKY TO HAVE ACCESS TO A CREDIT UNION OR ARE THERE OTHERS ENJOYING THE BENEFITS OF A CREDIT UNION BUT KEEPING QUIET. THE AVERAGE BANK CAN GO AND TAKE A JUMP, THE SOLE PURPOSE OF A BANK IS TO MAKE LOTS AND LOTS OF MONEY FOR THEIR SHARE HOLDERS :mad: AS A MEMBER OF A CREDIT UNION I AM A SHARE HOLDER AND GET A SMALL RETURN:beer: ,WHICH I AM MORE THAN HAPPY WITH.

PROLIANT

FROSTYFRECKLE wrote: »

HI ALL,

HAVE BEEN AN AVID READER OF THIS A SITE FOR A LONG WHILE AND WISH IT HAD BEEN AROUND 12 YEARS AGO, ANYWAY, ONE THING I HAVE NOTICED IS NOBODY TALKS ABOUT CREDIT UNIONS! I LOVE MY CREDIT UNION - SCOTWEST CREDIT UNION - OPEN TO ANYONE LIVING OR WORKING WITHIN STRATHCLYDE REGION. MY CURRENT ACCOUNT AND SAVINGS ARE WITH SCOTWEST, NO CHARGE FOR RUNNING THE CURRENT ACCOUNT, GOOD RATES OF INTEREST FOR SAVINGS PLUS THE YEARLY DIVIDEND ON THE SAVINGS :j
CREDIT UNIONS DO CREDIT CHECKS ON EVERYONE - IF YOU ARE APPLYING FOR A LOAN, MORTGAGE ETC. THERE ARE NO OVERDRAFT FACILITIES WITH THE CURRENT ACCOUNT. AM I JUST LUCKY TO HAVE ACCESS TO A CREDIT UNION OR ARE THERE OTHERS ENJOYING THE BENEFITS OF A CREDIT UNION BUT KEEPING QUIET. THE AVERAGE BANK CAN GO AND TAKE A JUMP, THE SOLE PURPOSE OF A BANK IS TO MAKE LOTS AND LOTS OF MONEY FOR THEIR SHARE HOLDERS :mad: AS A MEMBER OF A CREDIT UNION I AM A SHARE HOLDER AND GET A SMALL RETURN:beer: ,WHICH I AM MORE THAN HAPPY WITH.

What facilities does this "Credit Union" provide, VISA debit card, cheque gurantee card, cheque book, clearly no overdraft then?

jsmith9156

I have a current and savings account with the Voyager Alliance Credit Union (For Public Transport Workers). The current account comes with a Visa Debit card.

The Current account is actually run on behalf of the Credit Union by The Co-Operative Bank, and although my Union don't advertise it, You can make (Instant) Cash Deposits and withdrawals at the Post Office.

The only downside is there is no Internet Banking.

James

PROLIANT

jsmith9156 wrote: »

I have a current and savings account with the Voyager Alliance Credit Union (For Public Transport Workers). The current account comes with a Visa Debit card.

The Current account is actually run on behalf of the Credit Union by The Co-Operative Bank, and although my Union don't advertise it, You can make (Instant) Cash Deposits and withdrawals at the Post Office.

The only downside is there is no Internet Banking.

James

What is the advantage of going with a credit union over a main stream bank?

dexters_mum_2

I also am a fan of credit unions, mine doesn't do the banking facilities, simply savings and loans, but have just been able to take a loan to pay my car insurance off in full and I'll only pay back about £1.22 in interest as opposed to the 29.9% the insurance co would want to charge me for paying monthly.

PROLIANT

dexters_mum wrote: »

I also am a fan of credit unions, mine doesn't do the banking facilities, simply savings and loans, but have just been able to take a loan to pay my car insurance off in full and I'll only pay back about £1.22 in interest as opposed to the 29.9% the insurance co would want to charge me for paying monthly.

Do they do credit checks?

dexters_mum_2

Mine does, if you want to borrow 2 or more times your savings, say if you had £300 in savings and wanted to borrow £599, no credit check, if you wanted to borrow £650, yes you'd have an experian check run on you. However, if you have saved and borrowed regularly for a few years with no late payments or defaults and basically have a credit history with them, they won't check you at all.

Not the best system in the world but it seems to work for them.

No checks for opening an account though.

Meltdown_2

It sounds similar to the way in which Building Societies used to work.

jsmith9156

PROLIANT wrote: »

What is the advantage of going with a credit union over a main stream bank?

That's a difficult one to answer, But when you have been declined for a "normal" current account with the High Street banks you tend to be grateful for credit unions.... One thing I've heard from workmates who use them for day to day banking is that they don't add charges for failed DD etc quite so readily as other banks. They almost seem human!

Oh of course the fact they give you a full Visa debit card with only the most basic of credit checks (I ticked the "Are you currently in an IVA" box on the application and still got one!)

James

jsmith9156

dexters_mum wrote: »

Mine does, if you want to borrow 2 or more times your savings, say if you had £300 in savings and wanted to borrow £599, no credit check, if you wanted to borrow £650, yes you'd have an experian check run on you. However, if you have saved and borrowed regularly for a few years with no late payments or defaults and basically have a credit history with them, they won't check you at all.

Not the best system in the world but it seems to work for them.

No checks for opening an account though.

My Union works in the same way, Borrow 3 or more times your savings and they check you. But saying that, They will also give you a £500 'Starter' loan when you first join if you want it as soon as you start saving with them.

James

daveyjp

I use a credit union and use it to save for non monthly items such as utility bills, car insurance etc. I save every month rather than get into DDs for gas and electric, insurance. I save the money and get the interest (paid as a dividend - it was 7% last year!), rather than have DDs to lots of companies.

The one I use is as someone has said more like a building society savings acccount - it's not to be used as a general day to day account so overdrafts, debit cards etc etc aren't provided.

Loan rate is 12% APR on any amount borrowed with flexible repayment terms.

For anyone who can't access traditional accounts credit unions make a lot of sense - far better than Mr Loan Shark.