What
is a Credit Union?
A credit union is a group of people who save together and lend to
each other at a fair and reasonable rate of interest. Credit unions
offer members the chance to have control over their own finances by
making their own savings work for them. Regular savings form a
common pool of money, which in turn provides many benefits for
members.
What
are the benefits of a Credit Union?
A credit union is an organisation of people - for people. It exists
only to serve its members - not to profit from their needs. Credit
unions are non-sectarian and non-political, and continue that Irish
tradition of co-operative self help.
In Ireland over two and half million members have
recognised the value of credit unions and have savings approaching
€8 billion. There are over 15,000 active volunteers involved in the
movement, and over 2,000 people are employed.
One of the great success stories of the credit
union movement, the Savings
Protection Scheme Fund
currently amounts to over €73 million. The Savings Protection Scheme
protects the individual savings of members by making sure that the
credit unions are financially and administratively sound and by
providing remedial help to any credit union which shows signs of
weakness in these areas. Participation in the Savings Protection
Scheme does not confer any legal right on a credit union to receive
any financial assistance under the Scheme. Provided assistance is
given under the Scheme the savings of individual credit union
members may be protected up to a maximum of €12,700.
It has been shown throughout history that by
working together people can achieve far more through co-operation
than by individual effort. The success of the not only the credit
union movements worldwide is a clear illustration of this. Credit
unions have served their members well in Ireland, and as long as
there are active members, they will continue to do so.
Rights and Responsibilities of members
As a member you have a right to a say in how your credit union is
run. The best way to exercise this right is to attend the annual
meeting, where you have one vote, no matter how many shares or how
few shares (saving) you have.
As one of the owners of the credit union, you have a right to know
how it is being run, and how it is performing, and with this right
comes the responsibility to contribute to the effective and fair
running of the credit union. Members are urged to attend general
meetings, contribute to discussions about credit union matters, and,
with care, elect to office people who will have the general good of
the membership at heart. Indeed you can also put yourself forward
for election to the board of directors/supervisors committee if you
feel you can make a contribution to the overall running of the
credit union.
