The Church of England has launched a new scheme to promote responsible lending, which will see people given financial advice by the church community: the Church Credit Champions Network (CCCN) will promote the use of credit unions as an ethical alternative to payday lenders. It follows the Archbishop of Canterbury’s criticism of payday lenders in July last year.
SurreySave Credit Union has already begun such initiatives, launching its first joint venture with St John the Divine in New Malden and currently in negotiations with St Mary’s Camberley (and other outreaches established in Cobham and Norbiton).
SurreySave CU has trained church members from both organisations to offer advice about how it works and providing Internet access complete with support. The volunteers also deliver leaflets across their communities.
SurreySave CU is a Community Bank and a not-for-profit organisation. It is owned and run by its members providing an affordable and flexible alternative to high cost financial services. It also provides financial services to those who may be excluded from the financial market due to requiring a small loan, being on a low income or because they do not have a perfect credit record.
SurreySave offers:
• Reasonable interest rates on loans with no up-front fees or early repayment charges
• A competitive return on savings
• No regular bank charges, apart from an annual membership fee of £3
• Payroll Deduction Scheme – ability to save and/or repay loans directly from pay packets
• Free Life insurance to cover loan repayments in the event of death
• All savings are covered by the Financial Compensation Scheme
• Pre-paid visa card to help with monthly budgeting
Saving for a rainy day is one of our underpinning principles and we encourage everyone who borrows from us to put some funds aside, so that by the time they have repaid their loan, they have a small nest egg available to them to either continue to save or use as they wish.
Since opening for business in February 2012, and gaining authorisation by the Financial Services Authority (now FCA), over 1000 people have joined SurreySave, depositing over £1 million in savings. SurreySave have also issued over £650,000 in loans to residents of Surrey and the RB Kingston. SurreySave endeavours to help as many people as possible, by adopting a sensible and realistic approach to lending. Affordability to repay the loan is a key priority as SurreySave will not knowingly put anyone in worse financial position or risk non-payment on any of their current financial commitments. When a loan is not the answer, applicants are referred to their Citizens Advice Bureau or one of the other debt advice agencies for specialist advice.
Becoming a member, opening an account, applying for a loan or just finding out more about SurreySave is simple – just visit www.surreysave.co.uk or call the friendly SurreySave team on 01932 339290.
(SurreySave CU Press Release)