It's all happening at Bishop Burton College
On Tuesday 14 July, Carmel, our school project officer
attended a meeting at Bishop Burton
College arranged by Marc Hall, East Riding Senior Policy Officer and John
Harrison, IAG and Employability Officer, to discuss setting up a savings club
for their students and staff. Many of
the students live on the college campus throughout their course and would
welcome the opportunity to manage their money at a convenient contact point.
The first consideration was whether students attending
a college in East Yorkshire would be within our common bond. We were delighted
to confirm that students do indeed qualify for membership and can remain
members for life.
At a recent college Volunteers Fair, students from the Business Studies Department were
keen to learn how they might become involved with our Credit Union to gain work
experience. They were pleased to discover that volunteering with us would give
them access to accredited training to enhance their CVs and practical
application of financial skills gained on their course.
Their enthusiasm didn't go un-noticed by college
staff. The seeds for a new project were sown! Business Studies courses impart
the skills graduates need to set up in businesses ranging from agriculture to
tourism. Students learn about start-ups, preparing business plans, working capital
and accounts.
Marc Hall had heard about our Business Start-Up Loan and thought this would be a wonderful opportunity to
introduce them to an ethical and trusted source of finance. The volunteer application process would allow
them to experience recruitment and all it entails - preparing for interviews,
providing references, induction and codes of conduct.
Marc and John also felt that parents would welcome a
secure means of providing money for their son’s and daughter’s living expenses
during their stay on campus. Our Prepaid Debit Card allows students to purchase books and resources
on-line and to pay for day to day expenses. Parents could control student
spending to the limit pre-loaded onto the cards and of course, the students
would have to budget carefully to avoid the Bank of Mum and Dad finding out
that their allowance had been used up during Fresher’s Week!
We have been invited to a forthcoming event when
students and their parents will have the opportunity to learn more about our
Credit Union during their induction to college. College staff, meanwhile, are
already asking about Christmas Saver Accounts. Fortunately
we already have payroll deduction arrangements in place with the College to
help them save up painlessly!
School competition proves a big success
This year's Pennies 2 Pounds Summer Competition was a
great success and I'd like to say "well done" to everyone who
entered! We were overwhelmed with some
fantastic entries and it was difficult to choose the winners. The winners, who
received certificates and shopping vouchers, were Kintija Stivka and Emilia
Luczka (Boothferry Primary School); Voilet Recchia and Gabriella Becker (St
Joseph's RC Primary School); Alfie Taylor (Reedness Primary School); Miah
Stafford (Parkside Primary School); Alexander Watt (Roos Primary School) and
Bethany Middlewood (Driffield Infants School).
Well done to all the runners up too; we hope you all enjoy your
chocolate coins!
Northern Linconshire Members' Committee
Our latest members' committee held its inaugural
meeting on 9 July, with Kate, Mike, Len, Andrew, David and Richard being there
at the "birth". The Committee
decided to operate fairly informally, to encourage members to play a full part
in its discussions and importantly, to enjoy their participation.
The Committee was pleased to hear of the efforts being
made to develop the Credit Union's business in the area since the merger, with
many meetings held to promote our services to local organisations. Members had also flown the flag for us at Winterton Show. The CU Prepaid Debit Card is now available to members in Northern Lincolnshire
and interest from members old and new is developing.
Committee members also suggested some improvements to
our loan application forms and felt it would be a good idea to publicise the
Committee’s existence in the High Street branch, along with dates and times of
future meetings. Hopefully this will
encourage more members to either attend meetings or pass on their thoughts and
ideas to committee members.
If you are a member living or working in Northern
Lincolnshire, we'd love you to get involved with our new Members' Committee. The next meeting is at the branch (162 High
Street, Scunthorpe) on Thursday 13
August at 7.00 pm.
Avoiding Telephone Bank Fraud
Sadly, we are reading more in the press these days of
people falling victim to telephone banking fraud. We'd hate to think that any of our members
might suffer this crime, so here’s a few tips to help everyone recognise the
threat and take steps to protect themselves.
If someone phones you and does any of the following,
they are unlikely to be genuine:
• Asks for
your personal and financial information, including your full security details;
• Tells
you that fraud has been detected on your account;
• Asks you
to transfer money into another account - your bank and the police will NEVER
ask you to do this;
• Suggests
that you hang up and call the "official bank phone number" - by not
hanging up themselves, they can be sure that you will be reconnected directly
with them again;
• Asks you
to enter your PIN into the handset. This sounds like a security measure, but
the fraudster is actually stealing your PIN and no bank would ask you to do
that.
• Asks you
to put your card and PIN into envelopes to be collected - your bank would NEVER
collect your card in person.
Do not agree to the callers requests. If in doubt, inform your bank or the police.
Credit unions and financial inclusion
A question sometimes asked is "what does the
Credit Union do to promote financial inclusion?"
Before I attempt to answer, let's get some definitions
out of the way:
According to Transact,
the national forum for financial inclusion, financial inclusion is achieved when people have access to
appropriate, desired financial products and services to manage their money
effectively, and when they have "financial capability" - that is,
they understand about financial products, and can use them with confidence and
motivation.
Relatively few people are totally "financially
excluded" but research and experience shows that those groups in society
that are most likely to experience financial exclusion are:
• Lone
parents;
• Long
term unemployed;
• Long
term sick or disabled;
• Lone
pensioners, particularly widows;
• Households
headed by students or part-time workers;
• Residents
in geographically remote locations;
• Migrants
or those with low levels of English or poor communications skills.
Why does it matter?
Well, financial exclusion costs money! Without a functioning bank
account, those affected pay more to cash a cheque, pay a bill and buy goods and
services. As they can't access an authorised overdraft, credit costs
considerably more, and insurance may be out of reach. These extra costs - referred to as the
"poverty premium" - were estimated in 2007 to waste around 9% of the
disposable income of a family of four.
So, what is HEYCU doing to help? Well, as a not-for-profit organsation owned
by our members, you'd expect us to be passionate about promoting financial
inclusion, while accepting of course that there are some limitations imposed by
regulators and that we can't change the world all by ourselves. But here are a few examples:
• Between
2006 and 2012 under the DWP Growth Fund
we issued over 15,000 affordable small loans to people who had previously
struggled to obtain credit cheaper than offered by doorstep lenders (250% APR
and above). With our interest rate
capped at 2% per month (26.8% APR), the DWP estimated that we saved families in
our region over £5 million in interest charges and, since the scheme ended,
we’ve continued to lend, despite barely covering the cost of doing so.
• In 2007
we were a pioneer of the Credit Union Current Account, which helped
over 2,500 members to get a proper bank account for the first time, paving the
way for them to use Direct Debits and standing orders, and obtain cash at ATMs,
for a low weekly fee.
• We
introduced a Prepaid Debit Card to help people access online shopping and budget
effectively without the risk of going overdrawn.
• In 2014
and 2015 we've run highly successful incentive-based Christmas Saver
campaigns, targeted at small savers and low income families, to help them plan
ahead for the festive spending burst, while minimising the need to take out
expensive short term loans;
• Our School Bank project is an
investment in the future, opening up access to saving for the next generation,
as well as their families, helping them to achieve the best possible start to
adult life.
• With
partner organisations we have developed a Jam Jar budgeting account to help families to cope with the impact of the new
state benefit, Universal Credit.
These are just a few examples of initiatives taken and
the way we are working with key partners, and our members, to promote financial
inclusion in our region.
Member Survey 2015
There's just a couple of weeks left to take part in
this year's Member
Satisfaction Survey.
I am delighted that we've had a great response already this year (higher
than last year), especially with paper copies in our branches. But we'd like to hear from as many members as
possible, as you are the reason why we are here!
So, if you haven't taken part, please do so before 31 July. You can fill in the electronic survey on our website
or, if you'd rather, pick up a paper version in branch and pop it in the box
when completed. You'd not only be
helping us, you might be the lucky winner of a £50 prize!
Have you considered one of our Prepaid VISA cards?
Need a VISA card to use online or in-store? Our Prepaid Card is an
excellent alternative to carrying cash.
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