Are you a member or a former member of a Credit Union?

#1 · 14-10-2020 12:06pm #1

I am well was but really do not know where I stand now. Am thinking of leaving it if I am still a member as customer service there is just terrible and they never send me any post or let me know anything any more. I blame the new management and before it it was much better. I guess they just don't care anymore.

McGinniesta · 14-10-2020 1:45pm

AMKC wrote: »

I am well was but really do not know where I stand now. Am thinking of leaving it if I am still a member as customer service there is just terrible and they never send me any post or let me know anything any more. I blame the new management and before it it was much better. I guess they just don't care anymore.

What makes you think the banks are any better?

Snotty · 14-10-2020 1:47pm

Sounds like you want a friendship not a financial institution

o1s1n · 14-10-2020 1:55pm

Was a member of Drumcondra credit union until it was liquidated recently :eek:

McGinniesta · 14-10-2020 2:09pm

o1s1n wrote: »

Was a member of Drumcondra credit union until it was liquidated recently :eek:

How much did you lose?

L1011 · 14-10-2020 2:15pm

Former, was run so badly they were offering 0% dividends in the days when others were giving 3+% so I stopped.

Been merged since, not sure if the new one does their job properly.

o1s1n · 14-10-2020 2:30pm

McGinniesta wrote: »

How much did you lose?

The The Deposit Guarantee Scheme only covered me up to 100,000 - lost my gold house and my rocket car

AMKC · 14-10-2020 3:09pm

L1011 wrote: »

Former, was run so badly they were offering 0% dividends in the days when others were giving 3+% so I stopped.

Been merged since, not sure if the new one does their job properly.

That's what has happened with my local CU it merged with a whole lot of other ones and not for the better if you ask me.

Stovepipe · 14-10-2020 3:15pm

I heard a story of one credit union merged with several small CU branches and they soon built a large, expensive CU building and it emerged that the brother of the head of the largest branch got the building contract. Allegedly.

14-10-2020 3:15pm

Both, I was a member of two credit unions. One local to where I live, and one associated with my workplace.

The local one was badly run, had much higher interest rates and inflexible policies so I closed that account and transferred all my shares to other credit union, which is very well run.

If you're not happy, maybe transfer to another credit union?

AMKC · 14-10-2020 8:36pm

Deleted User wrote: »

Both, I was a member of two credit unions. One local to where I live, and one associated with my workplace.

The local one was badly run, had much higher interest rates and inflexible policies so I closed that account and transferred all my shares to other credit union, which is very well run.

If you're not happy, maybe transfer to another credit union?

Good point but the nearest one but related to that one is a good 40mins drive away and thats by car. I have to sort out with my current one first.

cms88 · 14-10-2020 8:48pm

I;m a member. \i've found there's a bit of n ego thing about them. Some work thinking no matter what they do they'll get baled out if thing go wrong.

BringBackMick · 14-10-2020 8:51pm

There really no better than a banks

Only difference is if you keep a credit union sweet and behave well....whilst perhaps falling down in other institutions they will still give you credit etc..

However all banks will blankedly penalise you if you missed a months payment 2 years ago..

So they are good to have as back up if you hit hard times

blackbox · 14-10-2020 9:00pm

Am I the first person to answer NO?

worded · 14-10-2020 9:05pm

Their car competition is really good

A lot of them have one car give away per mth a d I think it's around 75 euro per year to be entered into all draws

Their death cover is about 10K and that costs very little and will help our your relatives when you kick the bucket

The loan interest is very high

someone I know borrowed for the their house deposit 25 years ago LOL

BringBackMick · 14-10-2020 9:12pm

worded wrote: »

Their car competition is really good

A lot of them have one car give away per mth a d I think it's around 75 euro per year to be entered into all draws

Their death cover is about 10K and that costs very little and will help our your relatives when you kick the bucket

The loan interest is very high

someone I know borrowed for the their house deposit 25 years ago LOL

Yes if you are clever and plan in advance you can get that extra 25k you need for deposit. Obviously you need to do this 12 months before your going for the mortgage but if good at planning it could give you that crucial boost

Rachiee · 14-10-2020 9:25pm

It seems to depend on your CU how good their deals are, personally I find my CU great, sooo much easier to borrow from than the banks, interest not great it's higher than banks but , banks won't entertain large loans for people on average wages, at least CU is a good back up, my credit union allows you to bank online and is very convenient , I recently applied for a loan from CU got approved within 48 hrs, ( still waiting to hear back from the bank 4 weeks later)

Pythagorean · 14-10-2020 9:37pm

I got a letter from my CU today advising me that their deposit limit is 30k. The problem is that interest rates for depositors are swinging negative, the CUs have vast sums available, but it seems people are not borrowing. So the original raison d'etre of the Credit Unions is beginning to slip away.

gmisk · 14-10-2020 9:39pm

blackbox wrote: »

Am I the first person to answer NO?

Nope I don't have a credit union account.
I was born in the north though so the whole idea is a bit foreign to me.

Montage of Feck · 14-10-2020 9:42pm

What customer service do you want? Its a place to stick spare cash and just as long as its still there when I need it I'm happy. Although I hear rumours the annual car raffle is a bit dodgy.

BuboBubo · 14-10-2020 9:45pm

I am. I currently have a car loan with them. I find my local one very good, no penalty for finishing loans earlier which suits me.

14-10-2020 9:51pm

Yes and it's great.

Car raffle every month
Christmas raffle
Summer bbq
Hassle free loans
Non profit so dividends and loan interest rebates
Commission free foreign currency
Budget account whereby they take from my wages every week and pay all my bills direct so no nasty surprises.

I'm a happy customer and feel no desire to receive random communicating from them. Those letters are only coming from your pocket op.

cj maxx · 14-10-2020 10:17pm

Are CU’s protected under the government saving guarantee thingy ?

worded · 15-10-2020 5:07am

I rang a few years ago and discovered that they were charging different interest rates for diff loan types

So for a home loan it was X%and a car loan Y%
The car loan was cheaper interest and all you needed was a copy of the car Ad as far as I recall before purchase to avail of the lower rate

I didn't borrow anything on the end

Wanderer78 · 15-10-2020 5:10am

cj maxx wrote:

Are CUâ€™s protected under the government saving guarantee thingy ?

Think so

phormium · 15-10-2020 5:40am

Borrowing for the deposit on a house from CU was commonplace years ago before 100% mortgages existed, they always existed really for those who could borrow from CU and ended up being more expensive as your deposit was at a higher rate.

Anyways that loophole kind of closed now that CU loans appear on credit checks, when they didn't you could just say it was a savings or gift from parents

Always handy to have a CU account, they are often lender of last resort and definitely more lenient than banks even with their new restrictions, they are less of a 'computer says no' and more of willing to listen to an explanation for a blip in a credit record etc. They also make in house decisions instead of everything being in head office which means they have more local knowledge to base decisions on.

worded · 15-10-2020 2:23pm

phormium wrote: »

Borrowing for the deposit on a house from CU was commonplace years ago before 100% mortgages existed, they always existed really for those who could borrow from CU and ended up being more expensive as your deposit was at a higher rate.

Anyways that loophole kind of closed now that CU loans appear on credit checks, when they didn't you could just say it was a savings or gift from parents

Always handy to have a CU account, they are often lender of last resort and definitely more lenient than banks even with their new restrictions, they are less of a 'computer says no' and more of willing to listen to an explanation for a blip in a credit record etc. They also make in house decisions instead of everything being in head office which means they have more local knowledge to base decisions on.

Re ~ CU loans appear on credit checks

Even if the loan is not in arrears its visible to the banks ?

dxhound2005 · 15-10-2020 3:53pm

cj maxx wrote: »

Are CU’s protected under the government saving guarantee thingy ?

They are protected but it is not a government scheme. It is underwritten by the financial institution which are members of the scheme. If you want a government guarantee that is State Savings, with no limit.

https://www.ccpc.ie/consumers/money/saving/deposit-guarantee-scheme/

phormium · 16-10-2020 7:10am

worded wrote: »

Re ~ CU loans appear on credit checks

Even if the loan is not in arrears its visible to the banks ?

Yes, they joined that scheme some years back or at least the ones I am familiar with did, a list of all member CUs is on the ICB site.

andekwarhola · 16-10-2020 7:18am

Stovepipe wrote: »

I heard a story of one credit union merged with several small CU branches and they soon built a large, expensive CU building and it emerged that the brother of the head of the largest branch got the building contract. Allegedly.

No doubt that was intrinsically linked to the fact that the institution was a credit union.

Normal One · 16-10-2020 8:05am

I'm in my work one. Tried to apply for a car loan 6 years ago. They wanted me to fax 54 pages of application stuff. The dusty old fax machine broke down halfway through so I gave up. Still putting €20 a fortnight into savings, mind you.

razorblunt · 16-10-2020 8:15am

They're grand until the local Councillors try to boost their profile by getting on the Board of Directors and then doing fúck all for 2 years and missing almost every meeting.

16-10-2020 8:48am

The op and everyone else moaning could go to the meeting, get involved, or simply go in and ask why they are not receiving correspondence.

evil_seed · 16-10-2020 9:02am

Yes

LollipopJimmy · 16-10-2020 9:52am

After my mother nagging me into it I went to join our local one. When I asked about joining at the desk the aul witch behind the counter shouts at me 'you have to be a member for 6 months before you can borrow'. I hadn't asked about borrowing. I took the forms anyway but they went in the bin, not dealing with that level of poxbottle

California Dreamer · 16-10-2020 9:54am

I love my credit union. It gave me loans when my bank laughed at me for looking for an overdraft or a €2k loan.

Been with my one about 12 years and have never once asked the bank for a loan except the mortgage.

Interest rates are decent and any time you call you get through to an actual person and not a call centre in India!

16-10-2020 9:57am

Member of my work one, savings from my paypacket and decent for car loans etc

All online and very happy with it

16-10-2020 10:03am

Normal One wrote: »

I'm in my work one. Tried to apply for a car loan 6 years ago. They wanted me to fax 54 pages of application stuff. The dusty old fax machine broke down halfway through so I gave up. Still putting €20 a fortnight into savings, mind you.

What are you going to do with your 480 next year?
blow it all at once?:D

charlietheminxx · 16-10-2020 10:10am

I was a member of Rush Credit Union which was at the centre of a scandal....

https://www.independent.ie/business/irish/how-did-three-monitoring-bodies-miss-financial-trouble-at-rush-cu-35190064.html

I intended on joining another, but to be honest I've been reluctant to deal with the hassle again.

16-10-2020 10:13am

Yup. I have two credit union accounts, one a savings account, and the other a transfer account for my mortgage/rents. I'm completely happy with both accounts, and the limited services attached to them. They do exactly what I want from them... and there are minimal charges. They also don't bother me with endless crap, except when they're changing the terms of the contract or the service I'm actually signed up for.

Whereas the banks have peppered me with charges, even to the point of requiring a maintenance charge on an account that hadn't been used in years (money in the account but no transactions happening). That account balance has dipped considerably due to the bank charges for services that I never used. In the end, I've closed nearly all my bank accounts because over the course of a few years, the charges accumulate to amounts that I'd be happier having for myself.

OP, the banks will screw you. The Credit union has limited use, but if you don't need much, they're a much better option.

Spanish Eyes · 16-10-2020 10:20am

Each to their own. I was a member when I was starting out in my youth. Was grand to borrow a few bob for the holliers and that.

Found when I moved into my own gaff that the local place knew far too much about everyone's business so I scarpered! Anonymity re money is one of my life lessons..

dxhound2005 · 16-10-2020 10:28am

One downside with them all is that they do not announce their dividend until near the end of the year. This year I expect that it could be zero in some cases. That is because they are stuffed with money that nobody wants to borrow, and they don't want to encourage more deposits. For the same reason they have put limits on what can be saved.

Of course there is far more money sitting in the banks earning next to no interest as well.

Normal One · 16-10-2020 11:19am

BrownFinger wrote: »

What are you going to do with your 480 next year?
blow it all at once?:D

Keep it there, it's over 9k now

Are you a member or a former member of a Credit Union?

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