FEBRUARY / MARCH 2020

In the first two months of 2020, we’re delighted to have welcomed 311 new members into our Credit Union Family.  We aim to provide them with a great experience as mutual owners of our financial co-operative.   What else have we been doing?

FINANCIAL WELLBEING STARTS AT WORK

We’re busy reaching out to employers in the Humber Region to ask them to consider becoming a Credit Union Payroll Partner.   For over 20 years, we have been helping employers large and small to offer their workers a regular deduction from their wage or salary for saving deposits and loan repayments with HEY Credit Union.  It’s a valued staff wellbeing benefit that comes at no direct cost to the employer.

Research shows that it’s a very effective way to reduce absenteeism caused by money worries, have a more productive workforce and demonstrate social responsibility to the community.   Having some savings tucked away for a rainy day builds financial resilience and payroll deduction recognises that the best way to catch a savings habit is to save automatically when we get paid.

In January, we launched our latest payroll partnership at ResQ, a major employer in Hull city centre.  We often visit our payroll partners’ workplaces to run staff roadshows, information stands in canteen or foyer and sign up new members.  In March, we’ll be at DWP offices in Washington, Co. Durham and Leeds, and County Hall, Beverley, the HQ of East Riding of Yorkshire Council.

If you are an employer, why not get in touch?  We’d love to provide a scheme for your staff.  It really is simple to operate, as we look after all the administration. Find out more. Call John on 01482 778753 or email info@hullandeycu.co.uk

 

Employees:  Doesn’t your employer offer Credit Union payroll deduction yet?   Email info@hullandeycu.co.uk to suggest an employer and if they sign up with us, we’ll pay you a reward of £100.

THE BANKS ARE TAKING MORE INTEREST

This week one of our members told us they had enquired at their High Street Bank about a loan, only to be advised to pay off their existing loan with us first because “having a Credit Union Loan would negatively affect their credit score”.  This is complete nonsense – the bank adviser should have known better – any loan that’s being repaid correctly, on time, can’t make your credit score worse, quite the opposite in fact. 

While it’s disappointing that some banks misrepresent the work of credit unions in this way, there is another way of looking at it.   Maybe our success and the impact we are making in our communities is causing the banks to take more interest these days?

We would also urge members looking to borrow for a special project to always get a quote from us first.  Often we can beat the rates charged by the banks – check out our loan calculator - see if we could save you some money.

WILL YOU BE PAYING MORE FOR AN OVERDRAFT?

From April 2020 bank overdraft charges are being simplified. Instead of daily fees, plus interest and other fees, there will be just one single interest rate on overdrafts, regardless of whether they are arranged or unplanned overdrafts.   Therefore, if you occasionally go overdrawn (where you have not arranged an overdraft) but soon return to a positive balance, you are likely to only pay a very small amount if at all. The changes will mean that you will be paying less for an overdraft.

But, with most banks set to increase the interest rate to around 40% (APR), those with large overdrafts may end up paying three times the amount that they pay now – particularly if the overdraft is not reduced by frequent large repayments.  With higher interest rates, many may find that they stay overdrawn for longer and can only meet minimum payments.  Consistently only making minimum repayments may affect your credit file, while increasing your level of ongoing debt.

A cheaper alternative?

Overdrafts should only be used for short-term borrowing or to cope with emergencies.  If you are one of our Payroll Members, you may like to consider our Flexi Credit.  You can apply for a credit facility of £1,000 or £2,000 which, if granted, sits on your account, without charge - ready to be used in an emergency.  When drawn down, you pay back £40 per month for £1,000 or £80 per month for £2,000 and the rate we charge is 19.6% APR – less than half that proposed by the banks.  It could be a cheaper option.  Find out more.

AROUND OUR REGION

Withernsea now has a Members’ Group

It was a great pleasure to attend the launch of our latest Local Members’ Group in The Shores at Withernsea on Tuesday 3^rd March.  15 members turned out, including the Town Mayor, Councillor Terry Dagnall.  Members enjoyed a Know Your Credit Union Quiz, learnt our latest product news and the progress of our expansion project, funded by Withernsea Big Local Trust.  We also consulted members about plans for some HEY Credit Union promotional gifts to use at events and updated them on our Charity of the Year.   The group looks forward to meeting again in June and September.  

Beverley Cherry Tree Centre

For over 20 years there’s been a Credit Union branch at the Cherry Tree Centre.  Thanks to the enthusiasm of Centre Manager Jo Ramsay and her team, it’s seen a recent upsurge in business, after advertising its presence more pro-actively around the estate, and extending access times from one afternoon to five days a week.  We’ve installed a smart new Credit Union sign over the front door so that the local community knows where to find us.  And it seems to be working!

Goole Members’ Group

The Group visited the nearby town of Snaith for its January meeting and enjoyed a warm welcome from our friends at Eadon Place Residents Group.  Members were pleased to learn that, following relocation of the branch office, membership of the Goole branch has greatly increased, to 1,117.  They also discussed options for fund raising in 2020 and decided to continued supporting Yorkshire Air Ambulance and the HEY Goole Toy Appeal.  A fun quiz and prize draw rounded off a lovely evening.

Flooding in Snaith

Shortly after the Goole Group met, sadly Snaith and surrounding villages, where we have lots of members, suffered terrible flooding, and our thoughts are with all the residents affected.  On the positive side, the way the community rallied round in mutual support was very moving and I am proud of our branch team who organised a raffle, generously supported by local traders, and an Easter Egg drop to provide some seasonal cheer for the affected families.

OUR CHARITY OF THE YEAR 2019

We’re proud that our members, staff and volunteers raised £1,331.71 to support the work of Yorkshire Air Ambulance.   They provide a lifesaving rapid response emergency service to 5 million people across 4 million acres of Yorkshire and the Humber, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.  Operating two helicopters, based at Wakefield and Thirsk, they attend around five missions every day.  

As our Credit Union covers a vast rural area where road transport can be slow and difficult, it’s hardly surprising that we know of our own Members whose lives have been saved by the intervention of the bright yellow helicopter and its capable crew.  It is strange that such a vital service, in this day and age, must rely on charitable donations to keep airborne, but sadly this is the case.

Yorkshire Air Ambulance have warmly thanked everyone at HEY Credit Union for their kind donations.

 HEY GOOLE ‘WALK ALL OVER CANCER’ CHALLENGE

Jo (Goole Branch) and I are walking 10,000 steps every day through the month of March to raise funds for Cancer Research.  If anyone would like to sponsor us, here’s a link. We would really appreciate your support.

SOCIAL MEDIA 10^TH ANNIVERSARY 

Our HEY Credit Union Facebook page is 10 years old on 11 March.  It’s come a long way since our Marketing Officer, Melisa, created it in 2010.   Back then, our Bridlington branch had just moved to Prospect Street and total members’ savings had topped £4 million.  We were one of the first credit unions to use social media but today most organisations do so.    Recently we passed the 2,000 Likes milestone and our 10^th anniversary competition had 636 entries!

SPRING IS ON ITS WAY

Spring is just around the corner – time to get busy with those home and garden improvements, maybe invest in a new car or caravan, or book a special holiday?  Whatever your plans, don’t forget to give us a chance to quote you for an award-winning Credit Union Loan!

Whether you are a member who pops into a branch or talks to us online, we hope to hear from you very soon… 

JOHN’S BLOG – JANUARY 2020

NEW YEAR MONEY GOALS

With the expensive festive season now behind us, it’s time to take a closer look at our finances and make 2020 the year we finally take the stress out of managing our money.

Here at HEY Credit Union, we’ve developed a set of New Year Money Goals to help you get into some good money habits that will really make a difference:

Goal 1 – Become a Member, save regularly and earn your share of our annual Dividend

You may already be one of HEY Credit Union’s 15,000 Members.  If not, it’s easy to join, by going online or visiting one of our branches. There’s no joining fee.

But once a Member, how can you get into the habit of saving regularly?   Here are some quick ideas:

·       Don’t assume that you won’t have enough money left at the end of the week/month to save.  Start off with a really small amount, and then build up later.  The amount doesn’t matter; putting it out of reach does! 

·       Have a goal in mind, a small target that you’ll be able to achieve, to set you going.  It might be tickets for a show, a new outfit or a night away.  Work out how much you need and when. On our HEY Credit Union App there’s a Savings Goal feature.  You can set a goal (££ and time period) and the App lets you see how you are progressing towards it.

·       Put aside a particular coin (such as 5ps, 20ps or £2s) in a jar.  You’ll be amazed how quickly the savings build up.

·       Challenge the family to save with you.  Make it fun – allow a monthly treat!

·       If you know how much you can afford to save, set up a standing order to pay into your CU savings just after you’ve been paid.  If you can’t see the money in your bank, you won’t spend it.

·       Once you’ve achieved your goal, don’t close your account.  Now you’re in the habit, keep on saving for something else.

It’s never too late, or too early, to start saving.  And we’ll reward you with our annual profit-sharing bonus Dividend just before Christmas.  In 2019 we paid out nearly £100,000 to our saver members!

Goal 2 – Save up for Christmas, and earn a Bonus

Christmas can be costly, with lots of spending all at once – presents, festive food and drink, parties and holiday breaks. Wouldn’t it make sense to plan ahead, so that the cost is spread over the full year?

Here at HEYCU, our popular Christmas Saver account offers the ideal way:  

·       You can save as much or as little as you like, but your savings are locked safely away until November!   Dipping in not allowed!  

·       Unlike informal Christmas Clubs (diddlums if you’re from East Yorkshire!), money saved with us is 100% protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

·       Unlike supermarket stamps or hamper clubs, we pay you back direct (to your bank or cash) so you can shop around for bargains.

·       And if you haven’t had one before, we’ll reward you with a Bonus of at least £10* in November for opening a Christmas Saver.     *terms and conditions

Goal 3 – Reduce your outgoings 

New Year is a great time to sit down and take a look at what you’ve got coming in and going out each week or month.   Have you any Direct Debits going out for gym or magazine subscriptions that you no longer use?  Cancel them and save!  

Perhaps you are paying out more than you need to in credit card repayments.  Could you save some money by switching to a Credit Union Loan?    Then you could save the difference into one of our safe savings accounts, enabling you to pay the balance off in full even earlier than you expected!

Why pay out more than you need to?   Book a free money review with our friendly team and we’ll see if we can help.   Remember, all loans are subject to approval and, as a responsible lender, we make a credit history check and only lend what we feel you can afford to repay.

Goal 4 – Make the most of your family income – Our Family Loan & Savings Plan helps you spread those “lumpy costs”

It’s not easy managing your money when you’ve a young family.  You’ll recognise the problem – lots of expenses are sort of “lumpy”, meaning they come all at once in big unhelpful chunks – things like school uniforms, sports kit, school trips and holidays – while your income arrives in fairly regular amounts through the year.   It makes planning and budgeting a nightmare!

That’s why HEY Credit Union introduced our Family Loan & Savings Plan.   By having your Child Benefit paid into a CU Membership Account regularly, you can combine save saving and affordable borrowing to smooth those lumpy costs out across the year.   

You’ll know exactly how much you have left each week or month – for other spending or tucking safely away for Christmas, your family’s future, or just a “rainy day”.  

With our Family Loan & Savings Plan you can borrow £500 and pay back just £12 per week or £50 a month, over one year.   It’s many times cheaper than using doorstep lenders or other high cost credit.  The spare funds can be saved with us or transferred the same day to your bank, as you wish.

Hundreds of members are using this Plan already and many have told us how much it helps them manage their money wisely and takes the stress out of budgeting.  Recently it was featured on BBC Radio 4’s Money Box.  Ask our friendly team – it could help you too.

HEY Credit Union is a not-for-profit financial co-operative, run for the benefit of its members.  We’d love to help you make the most of your money in 2020.   Happy New Year!

HEY CU – Giving our members a chance to have their say

Wikipedia defines a credit union as ‘a member-owned financial co-operative, controlled by its members and operated on the principle of people helping people’, and there are no places where this is truer than at HEY CU. It’s little wonder, therefore, that we look to involve our member-owners as much as possible in the running of their organisation. And it’s for this reason that we decided to invite all members to take part in our latest satisfaction survey.

Having direct input from our members is absolutely essential to find out what we do well, and where we can improve. We’re always looking for new ways to enhance our service to them, and the best way of doing that is to have open and honest two-way communication. I’m firmly of the belief that this is what sets credit unions apart from the high-street banks and corporate lenders, and is something that needs to be celebrated. At the recent ABCUL AGM in Manchester, this was one of the prominent themes from the many interactive and educational sessions and workshops.

At the end of the day, as credit unions - we’re owned by our community – so we need to have a dialogue with our community. Below are a few results from our recent survey.

If we look back at the definition at the beginning of this blog – in particular the idea that credit unions are founded on the belief of ‘people helping people’, then this stat is firmly in line with that belief. We strive to improve the financial wellbeing of our members, and one of the ways we do this is by offering access to affordable loans. Those of us who work in the credit union movement know that too many people are excluded from fair financial credit options. Hopefully, as one of the organisations proudly holding a 5 star Fairbanking Mark for Loans, we can make continue to make a difference and offer our members the best possible value.

This one in particular makes me very proud. One of our goals as a credit union is to offer a genuine alternative to the high-cost lenders out there. The fact that our members regard us as responsible suggests we are doing our job, first and foremost. Hopefully, it means that members are happy to recommend us to friends, family and work colleagues and together, we can improve the financial wellbeing of even more people throughout the region we serve – Hull, East Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire and various employers further afield.

Another key theme from the ABCUL AGM 2019 was the need for credit unions to be as technologically relevant as possible, to be just as accessible to people as the less scrupulous lenders out there are. It’s a sad fact that many of the so-called payday lenders make it seem easy to apply for a loan – with some able to release funds on the very same day. Unfortunately, this ease of access can often distract people from the harsh reality of the exorbitant interest rates they charge.

It’s good to know that the vast majority of our members feel that HEY CU loans are processed quickly and conveniently for them.  Even so, it’s an area where we are striving to do even better, so that our competitive advantage over other types of lender becomes  even more apparent over time.

While the vast majority of responses to our survey were positive – there are clearly some areas where we know further development is needed. Members often mentioned the need to streamline our online access and the process of applying for loans – and rest assured, those are areas that we have plans to work on over the coming months.

Speaking of coming months, we have quite a significant milestone to celebrate this June. HEY CU will be turning 20, and we asked our members for ideas to mark the occasion. We’ll be meeting with a number of partner organisations and members of the local community to ensure June 10^th will be a date to remember for years to come. Watch out for our news of how members can get involved in these celebrations in due course – we wouldn’t be where we are today without you.

Until next time!

John