Are you fed up with impersonal service and unexpected charges from your bank? Or find it hard to get a bank account or credit? Then why not try your local credit union?
That is what Steve did. He was fed up with being charged extortionate interest by local moneylenders and decided to take control of the situation and join Pitsmoor Credit Union. Steve, being self-employed, had two or three weeks over Christmas when he had no money coming in. He would go to a local moneylender and borrow some money to tide him over this period. He’d then end up paying back around one and half times what he had borrowed. And before the week was out, the moneylender was back looking for the first instalment, which would come out of the money he’d just borrowed.
So Steve started saving just £10 a week with Pitsmoor Credit Union and after a few months was able to take out his first loan of £440. He is paying this back over 31 weeks at just £15 per week. This goes off his loan and another £5 goes into his savings, which means he will have more savings and can apply for a bigger loan next time he needs one. The total Steve will pay in interest for this loan is just £16.08. If he had used a moneylender he would have paid around £273.36 in interest – seventeen times more than with the credit union.
Steve said he would never go back to using moneylenders and if only he had known about Pitsmoor Credit Union years ago he would have been able to save hundreds of pounds. “I tell everyone I know to join the credit union as I can honestly say that it is the best thing that I have done. I have access to low cost credit and savings to call my own.”
Pitsmoor Credit Union welcomes people regardless of their circumstances. We encourage even the smallest of savings, and when you borrow, there are no hidden charges or penalties for paying off your loan earlier. And your money is helping others in the same position as yourself.
Interested? Contact me at our office on 273 8555 – open for enquiries Monday to Friday, 10am–3pm at Christchurch, or come to one of our collection points. They take place 8–9pm on Mondays at the Hallcar Tavern, 8–9pm on Tuesdays at The Rock public house and 11am–noon on Thursdays at the Welcome Centre on Nottingham Street.
by Brendan Adams