Hi-Scot Credit Union Presentation Persuades More Councillors To Sign Up

22nd January 2014

Hi Scot Credit Union chairman and manager today gave a presentation to councillors of the Finance Housing and Resouce committee of Highland counmcil at their meeting in Inverness.

The notes of the presentation are in file Hi-Scot Presentation Slides and the' recording of the presentation and the following debate can be seeonline a thte highland council web site for 12 months at http://www.highland.public-i.tv/core/ It may be day unil the recording is available.

Several councillors acknowledged that credit unions were a good thing but that many memebrs of the public were still unaware of Hi-Scot credit union and th benefits of membership.

Additionally councillors one after another confessed they always meant to join but had been remiss and never got round to it. One after another they said they would do it today and get signed up.

The meeting agreed that Highland concil could help by making more details available to their own staff and Highland communities by their own offices. Leaflets and forms are already available at all service points but as Councillor Alastair Christie pointed out thousands of leaflets are avaiolable and this is nt alwyas th ebst way to get people to sign up. Personal intervention is needed.

David Mackey Hi-Scot manager gave examplesof the savings to be made and the free life insurance on offer with loans. the fact that to join was only one pound and that savings could be done at any Post office and withdrawals by a phone call with money sent immediately to a bank account.

The probelms for an organisation with members and only two and a half staff memebrs was that marketing was a hard job and that although this has been reviewed and new materials produced they could not reach all areas to deliver talks.

Highland Councillors are to become ambassadors of the financial co-operative which serves the Highlands and Islands - HI-Scot Credit Union - to promote the benefits of the member-led organisation through saving and borrowing money.

Members of the Finance, Housing and Resources Committee recognised that more can be done to encourage councillors and staff to join the Credit Union through improved internal communications and to more widely publicise the credit union in Service Points and libraries and through spreading the word in meetings with partner agencies.

Committee Chair Councillor Dave Fallows said: “While we do not contribute towards the costs of the credit union, we are partners and support the aims of the member organisation.

“The benefits of being a member of a Credit Union are clear and convincing and I will be joining today.

“Our commitment is to promote the benefits both within our own significant workforce and through the wide network of community organisation we regularly speak to and work with. The credit union is for the community and it can benefit the community and we need to get that message across as widely as we can.”

Committee Vice-Chair Councillor David Alston said: “We are partners in this enterprise and we need to up our game to inform people of the benefits of an excellent savings/borrowing scheme run for members.”

HI-Scot Chairman, Ian Morrison and Manager, David Mackay attended the Committee meeting to update members on the Credit Union.

Seven years after it first opened its doors, HI-Scot Credit Union has loaned more than £4 million to its members.

The Credit Union offers loans from £100 to £10,000 at competitive rates from as low as 9.38% APR and can be a more affordable source of credit than the traditional lenders in the Highlands and Islands. At a time when affordable, reliable sources of credit can be difficult to obtain, HI-Scot is a genuine alternative.

A recent donation by Barclays Bank of a new camper van to be used as a travelling office and advert is a huge bonus to raise the profile.

Councillors agreed to encourage everyone to join Hi-Scot as it is a member organisation with low running costs and many benefits to savers and borrowers. The board of directors are volunteers and unpaid.

For further information, the Credit Union can be contacted on 01851 701865.