CONSTITUENCY
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Capital Credit Union was registered in June 1989 and was originally set up to serve local authority staff employed by Lothian Regional Council. Since 2002 it has been
providing quality, affordable, accessible financial services to anyone who is living or working in the Lothians and Scottish Borders – a population of almost one million. Capital is the third largest
Following on from my 'payday lenders' piece in last months edition, I'm delighted to included an article by
credit union in Scotland and is one of the five largest in Britain today. It has over 18,000 members, assets in excess of £19 million, employs 18 staff and works with 45 "sponsoring employers"
Scottish Parliament, Scottish Government,
contract with the Department of Work and Pensions. This year, as a result of
new legislation introduced in January 2012, Capital will extend its services to a greater number of people and, for the first time, provide membership, services and products to local businesses. The organisation, which is not-for-profit, is regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA).
including The five local
She describes the importance of credits unions in tackling predatory legal loan sharks.
authorities and a range of voluntary and commercial organisations. Capital has been at the forefront of many innovations including the credit union current account, credit union mortgages, and more recently introducing products to combat pay day lenders. This was in fact launched at the Scottish Parliament in 2011. Capital, since 2006, has been a key stakeholder in the delivery of financial services to people who have been financially excluded. It provides financial services to over 3,000 people through a
On more than one occasion I have sat in front of people who in their own words, ‘wanted to end it all’ because of the situation they had got into with pay-day lenders. Their debts had spiralled out of control. Rarely do people end up
with just one pay-day lender and, in my experience, most have two or three. In the most extreme case I have seen, one person had 10 pay-day lenders and had descended into a whirlpool of debt. Those who get involved
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