Listen to a conversation with George Hofheimer, the advisor and author of "Banking on the Human Scale." As we navigate the challenges that credit unions face in the digital era, George illuminates the path ahead, offering strategic insight into blending technological investments with the human service that defines credit unions. The traditional face-to-face service is not lost, but rather enhanced as George makes a compelling case for a harmonious merge of the old and the new. This conversation is an essential precursor to the upcoming Manchester Swoboda Credit Union Conference, in November, t ..read more

Several responses to this question by credit union leaders: *Rate tart is a term used in banking to describe someone who transfers balances repeatedly, chasing the best possible interest rates on savings. David McAuley, CEO, Donore CU, Ireland " Are our members 'rate tarts'* and leave the credit union, if we pay insufficient dividend? Our members in the main are not big savers.  So, while there will be one or two members disgruntled with no dividend and they do tend to be in the “older” category and not borrowing. For the last few years due to the prevailing low interest (or zero rate in ..read more

Several responses to this question by credit union leaders: *Rate tart is a term used in banking to describe someone who transfers balances repeatedly, chasing the best possible interest rates on savings. David McAuley, CEO, Donore CU, Ireland " Are our members 'rate tarts'* and leave the credit union, if we pay insufficient dividend? Our members in the main are not big savers.  So, while there will be one or two members disgruntled with no dividend and they do tend to be in the “older” category and not borrowing. For the last few years due to the prevailing low interest (or zero ra ..read more

Paul Jones and Nick Money update us on the wide list of projects, papers and conferences coming up in the next 12 months at the Swoboda Research Centre. Hear about: New credit union lending projects Sustainable credit unions Updates on the Governance Manual New faces at Swoboda Jonathon Moore's views on credit unions Talking Credit Unions with Chris Smith is a regular podcast dedicated to informing credit union practitioners, leaders and opinion formers on variety of industry topics. To contact Chris Smith, smithowls@gmail.com ..read more

This podcast captures the views of some financial services industry commentators on the merits and drawbacks of ESAS (Employee Salary Advance Schemes). Guests on this podcast are: Matt Bland, CEO Co-op Credit Union, UK Emily Trant, head of Impact & Inclusion, Wagestream Lindsay Melvyn, CEO Flexiwage Erik Porter, Wellbeing expert How a Employee Salary Advance Scheme works: Specialist scheme operators, which are usually unregulated businesses, often provide the product as part of a 'wellbeing package' to help employees with financial management. Some offer employees an app based platform ..read more

The past two years has been the ultimate stress test for the financial, operational, competitive, and cultural resiliency of credit unions. Leaders have greater depth of insight into the risks facing their credit union and can now better plan for and address those risks, allowing the organisation to focus primarily on longer-term opportunities. Some credit unions are only now emerging from the lockdown to seek new members in a tremendously competitive and digital world. The economic challenges of the past two years have amplified the essential role credit unions can play in the lives of their ..read more

An interview with Robert Kelly CEO at ABCUL (Assoc. of British Credit Unions Ltd). I was really interested in the news that ABCUL are to launch a Strategic Merger Taskforce. Robert Kelly, CEO at ABCUL, once again appears to tackle subjects that appear sometimes to be difficult to deal with but nevertheless are really of the moment. Credit Union mergers, or transfer of engagements, in the past have typically been a way of saving a struggling credit union from failure, by being absorbed into a healthier partner. However, could two, or more, credit unions join; and become strategically stronger ..read more

This edition provides a snap shot of two Irish credit unions and their immediate actions taken to help credit union members, staff and communities in response to the COVID-19 crisis in March and April 2020. These actions demonstrate and exemplify the ‘credit union difference’. The COVID-19 health crisis has meant extraordinary operational and commercial challenges to credit unions. This podcast refers to the CFCFE report that in turn refers solely to credit unions in the Republic of Ireland; CFCFE has published separately on the actions taken by British credit unions, along with the podcast ED ..read more

Robert Kelly CEO, of the trade association ABCUL (Association of British Credit Unions Ltd), talks about is first months in the role and the forthcoming national conference in Manchester (March 2020 ..read more

This interview took place immediately after Manchester CFCFE Conference in Manchester. At that conference Todd had outlined his extensive experience of IT solutions in the credit union sector in the USA, and his recent engagement with Irish credit unions. Todd noted that core IT system replacement, the focus of his presentation, is a very significant project for credit unions, but because there have been so many of these in the US (over 600 in the last five years) there is now increasing competence at core system conversions. For most core processor businesses, the overwhelming majority of the ..read more