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You and your money
At a Credit Union contact point in one of the City Council's customer service centres the other day, the following conversation took place:
Credit Union Volunteer, to member of the public: "Would you be interested in joining and saving up with the Credit Union?"
Customer: "Oh no, I wouldn't want that, I've got a diddlum.*"
CU Volunteer: "What's that, then?"
Customer: "Well, the diddlum man comes every week and collects my savings. He's been coming for years."
CU Volunteer: "What does he give you for saving with him, then?"
Customer: "Nothing. Well, no, he takes the interest for looking after my money for me. I used to get hampers from him and Easter eggs, but he hasn't done that for years, But he still comes and I pay him £10 a week. I've saved up over £300 with him."
CU Volunteer: "Wouldn't you be better off with the Credit Union?"
Customer: "I don't know. Tell me more."
CU Volunteer: "It's not for profit. It looks after your money safely and it pays you a dividend at the end of the year, to reward you for saving. You can save as much or as little as you like. There's lots of ways to pay in and draw out. And it can arrange small loans when members need them, at a cost you can afford."
Customer : "Mmm, sounds like a good idea. Give me a form."
It makes you think, doesn't it?
*A diddlum is a savings club
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A credit to the city
It's grown from nothing to having more than 3,000 members in just a few years - and now it's providing inspiration across the country.
Hull and East Yorkshire Credit Union (HEYCU) is one of the fastest-growing credit unions in Britain - and was recently praised at a major national conference in London.
The Ônot-for-profit' business, which is owned by its members, has made more than £5 million in low-cost loans to Hull and East Riding residents, and looks after members' savings of more than £2.5 million.
And every month, HEYCU staff write the Hull in print "cash" column, which offers financial advice to readers (see right hand column of this page).
Meanwhile, HEYCU development officer John Smith was invited to speak at the London conference, where he shared secrets of HEYCU's success with representatives from local authorities and community development organisations around the country.
He said afterwards: "Hopefully we inspired them to go away and follow in our trailblazing footsteps."
Mr Smith also praised Hull City Council for having the "foresight" to assist credit union volunteers in getting the project off the ground.
The conference was the annual Barclays Financial Inclusion Conference, held at Canary Wharf.
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