An Phoblacht/Republican News   ·   Thursday October 26 1995

Credit where its due

THE 421 CREDIT UNIONS in the 26 Counties have no customers but still have the potential to become a dominant force in the Irish financial sector. The 1.6-million credit union members are actually shareholders in their credit unions and are therefore not considered customers. Charges to members are only levied to cover costs, financial services are provided to members without the range of exploitative profit making measures used by the mainstream banking sector. Profits go to the shareholders in the form of dividends.

The ramifications of such credit-union policies have been ignored up to now by the rest of the banking sector, who have been able to pigeonhole credit unions into a small segment of the banking sector.

Now the Irish Credit Union Movement is set to break the mould and move tentatively into the arena usually reserved for the dominant banks. Automated Teller Machines (ATM), cash dispensers to the lay person, are to be installed in a pilot programme in Kilkenny, Navan, Mitchelstown and Tullamore.

Such dispensers handled over 29 million transactions last year, involving more than £3.2 billion, with banks charging an average of 15p a go creating revenue of £4.35 million for them.

Credit union cash cards will also be able to be used in AIB machines while the Telecom credit union has done a deal with TSB bank to use their machines. The credit unions also have a wholly owned insurance company subsidiary called Eccu which offers loan protection and home insurance.

The entry of the credit unions into the ATM market is a positive step and shows that a third banking force could emerge despite the dithering of Ruairí Quinn and cabinet colleagues.