LEGAL AND FINANCIAL
CreditUnionsfor Service Personnel
byWOPhil Chadwick, RAFCommunity Support
Service personnel are now able to get into the savings habit by having deductions from your pay made straight into asavings account with one of three Credit Unions. Credit Unions offer aflexible and low-risk way to save if you are unable to, or don’t want to open asavings account with abank or building society.
Why is this happening? In the past some Armed Forces personnel have had difficulties getting credit, due in part to moving regularly and not being able to build up agood credit
history.Some have also been targeted by payday lenders.
The government announced measures last year to help tackle these problems. The first is the setup of apayroll deduction system allowing you to save directly from your salary into aCredit Union. The Credit Unions that are operating the payroll deduction system have changed their criteria to allow Armed Forces personnel to become members, so this means that you can have access to safe, affordable loans.
What is aCredit Union? In Credit Unions, members pool their savings and lend to one
another.Members have something in common, like the same employer, church or trade union, or living in the same area. Some Credit Unions offer afixed rate of interest on savings, but most give you ayearly pay-out called a‘dividend’. Youwill need to be amember of aCredit Union before you can get aloan from them and some will require you to build up some savings first. Most Credit Unions will charge you an average of 1% interest a month as you pay off the loan. Some will charge less, others will charge more.
If you want more information about Credit Unions generally,please see the article by the Money Advice Service here: https://www.
moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/articles/ credit-unions
The three Credit Unions which have formed the ‘Armed Forces Credit Union’are:
www.raf-ff.org.uk
•London Mutual Credit Union •Plane Saver Credit Union •Police Credit Union
It’s up to you which one you choose to save with, as we can’t recommend one over another. What we can say is that we’ve wanted our personnel to have access to aCredit Union for a long time now,soplease have a look! Once the Service person has
joined, their spouse can also join the same Credit Union and save via Direct Debit.
Credit Union Trivia Fact In the United States, the Navy Federal Credit Union (for Armed Forces, Veterans and Department of Defence Staff) was started in 1933 with 7members. It now has almost 6million members and assets of over $72 Billion!
JOININGFORCES SAVINGS&LOANREPAYMENTSTAKEN STRAIGHT FROMPAY
TheMoD hasmadeitpossible forthree of theUK’sleadingcreditunions to join forces and make simple savings accounts and loans available to thearmed forces and theirfamilies.
O C U
Visit
planesavercu.co.uk/MOD
Call us on 0208 6075020
•Savings andloans straight from your pay
•Averagereturn of over3%paid on savings overthe last 4years
•Loans of up to £25,000 on top of your savings balance
•One month interest free on allfirstloans*
•Life CoveronSavings andLoans of up to £40,000*
•Onlineaccountmanagement
•Currently servingover10,000 members
•FSCSprotectionondepositsof up to £75,000
Join todayfor FREE
‘Serve and Protect’ is atrading name of PoliceCreditUnion Ltd.
Visit
serveandprotectcu.co.uk
Call us on 0845 2661113
•Simplesavings from £10per month
•Sensible loans from £500to £25,000
•Life coveronsavings andloans at no extracost*
•Secureonlineaccountaccess •Servingover25,000 members •Freetojoin •Joinand borrow withnodelay Checkusout!
Visit
creditunion.co.uk/Military.htm
Call us on 02077870770
•Flexible, safe savings: Save as much or as littledirectly from salary
•Changemonthly contributions flexibly
•Straightforward CurrentAccount Paybillsvia Direct Debitor Standing Orders GetaVISAATM/Debit card
•Loans up to £15,000 Repayloandirectlyfromsalary
•Instant payday loans Payover1,2 or 3months
•Holiday/Christmas accounts
•Online, Mobile,SMS banking Trackyourfinances through LMCU App
Check
outWWW.JOININGFORCESCU.CO.UK *Terms andconditionsapply.
PlaneSaver Credit Union,London Mutual Credit Union andPoliceCredit Union areauthorisedbythe Prudential Regulation Authorityand regulated by theFinancial ConductAuthority andthe Prudential Regulation Authority.
Spring 2016
27
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52