The rapidly expanding membership of Balbriggan Credit Union suggests that the concept of a co-operative financial services provider is every bit as relevant to the local community in the north county Dublin town as it was 40 years ago, when the branch it was originally founded.
Balbriggan is one of the fastest-growing areas in the State, with a huge amount of new housing being built. The credit union's membership has been swelled by the influx of new people moving to the area, with foreign nationals making up a significant proportion of this increase.
It is attracting close to 2,500 new customers each year, and the membership now stands at 14,400. As large numbers of its members are of foreign nationality, the credit union is in the process of reproducing documentation in several languages.
"Our raison d'être is to provide credit to the community," says manager Martin Mullen. "So in a lot of cases, we would take on the loans that none of the banks would take on - people on very low income and people who wouldn't qualify for a loan with a typical institution. We tend to look at them a lot more favourably than most institutions would.
"A typical member - if there is such a thing - both saves and borrows," Mr Mullen says. Members take out loans for every conceivable purpose, from a few hundred euro to cover communions to perhaps €60,000 for home extensions. Car loans are most common at the moment, as the credit union is offering a highly competitive rate of 6.99 per cent APR.
"Not for profit, not for charity, but for service," is the credit union motto, and service is the key priority in Balbriggan, Mr Mullen says. Members can avail of long opening hours (44.5 hours a week) and, with 13 employees, there is a high staff-member ratio, so staff have the time to talk to customers. "We're not trying to get people in and out."
