Executive Summary
We continue to see that finances are getting tighter for so many people, and our residents and members are also being affected.
In particular we see that more people are struggling with banks that charge penal bank fees or accounts that are very basic, whilst others have become trapped in high cost lending and growing personal debt issues.
Against that landscape, we see that Credit Unions are more necessary than ever, with more of our local residents needing ethical and affordable financial services. We also need to reach more people, and make sure they can access us and use our services when they need us, whilst remaining sustainable and delivering good value to all our members.
To enable the expansion that we expect in the next few years, we have invested more than ever this year into our credit union:
Developing the community banking to offer a range of affordable, fit for purpose bank accounts, providing high quality benefits, exceeding other comparative accounts
Implementing new website and digital phone system, and expanding our premises
Developing touch screen kiosks to allow more people to access our services
Partnering in 12 sectors with over 200 organisations across Birmingham.
The credit union sector is also going through a period of change. Whilst pay day lenders operate under the lightest regulatory regime and regulators struggle to regulate the banks, credit unions operate under a very tight framework of regulation. We are working with many leading organisations and seek a regulatory framework that would enable us to become the sector that so many are seeking for us to be - so we can really compete with Wonga!
In Birmingham we are leading the way, working closely with key partners to create Birmingham Fair Money promoting affordable and responsible lending in our city and working with the council on Birmingham Fair Money Manifesto.
Despite all of these challenges, this has been another good year of growth for Citysave. Indeed we have seen good growth in all areas of our credit union, with membership, lending and savings all growing again this year. As importantly this is the first time in some years that we have created a surplus without reliance on grant income, over and above the investment we have made in our organisation. This will see a dividend payment to our members from this surplus that is again for the 4th year considerably in excess of the deposit rates being paid by banks and building societies on instant savings.
We look forward with great confidence to being able to support more of our members in the future, promoting thrift and financial wellbeing in households across our great city.