Glasgow Credit Unions

Glasgow Credit unions are collectively owned monetary institutions that offer specialized interest rates to their members. They are able to offer lower rates than national averages due to the fact that the institution is run by individuals that have been verified to have good credit. Especially in these troubled economic times, Glasgow credit unions can help individuals to gain greater borrowing power and financial control. These institutions are a way of approaching finance in which theoretically everyone involved has some say in where interest rates are set and in other financial matters.

In the city of Glasgow, credit unions are an important institution. In fact, there happen to be more credit unions in Glasgow than in any other city in the United Kingdom. Glasgow credit unions are used by a large percentage of the banking population in the city. There are over 30 credit unions in Glasgow and the number of members is over 100,000 people. That translates to roughly 1 in 5 people in the city who are members of credit unions. The credit unions collectively have a financial asset portfolio of £170m.

What these numbers mean is that a large number of Glasgow residents are getting their loans and handling their finance in general through credit unions. The demographics also show that the credit union members in Glasgow come from diverse backgrounds and economic levels. Thus, Glasgow credit unions are not exclusive “in groups,” but rather cooperatives that insure fair banking practices for those that join.

The credit union ethos is to put people before profit. Credit unions are nonprofit organizations, which means that they are not motivated to charge higher interest rates than they have to, allow customers to effectively accrue savings, and seek to give customers freedom to deal with their finances in a straightforward and matter of fact manner.

Credit unions are beginning to offer more services than in the past as part of the membership. They offer mortgages, credit cards, auto loans, checking accounts (whereas in the past they used to be more exclusively lenders), and so on. They often require virtually no minimum or opening balance. They may for instance allow a member to open an account for $1. This opens the doorway to investing and borrowing to people at a variety of income levels.

Glasgow is an international and active city with a large variety of activities and businesses. The city’s network of credit unions is clearly a business facilitator that puts savings products, lending, and banking in general within the grasp of a large portion of the population. Someone simply seeking to open a savings account, another interested in borrowing money to buy a car, and a third looking for a large business loan can all avail themselves of credit unions to insure fair monetary dealings and the best possible interest rates. Here’s to Glasgow for thoroughly adopting the credit union idea as part of their financial philosophy as a city.