Edinburgh credit union sees membership surge by 50 per cent

Marlene Shiels

Capital has also reported a sharp increase in lending in both personal loans and mortgages for the first two quarters of the year.

Capital’s chief executive, Marlene Shiels, said: “These are very pleasing half year results in what has been a difficult market for those in financial services. We have taken on 1,350 new members so far this financial year, which represents a 49 per cent increase on the same period last year. People are switching on to the benefits of credit union membership and we now have over 23,000 members in total.

“Our personal lending was up by 32 per cent to stand at £4.3 million for the period, an increase of over £1 million on last year. We have benefited from a recognition that it has never been more important for people to borrow responsibly and from ethical sources. Our mortgage lending has also increased by just over 20 per cent.”

Ms Shiels attributes this growth to several factors including an increased investment in the organisation’s marketing and business development functions. She added: “We have partnerships with over 70 employers throughout the East of Scotland, which allows their staff to save directly from their payroll and engage with our team during workplace visits. We have an active programme of helping businesses in the financial aspects of their health and wellbeing agendas for staff.

“We are promoting and helping people build financial resilience at a time when personal debt across Scotland is spiralling and this appeals to lots of employers concerned about their staff. We would be happy to speak to other businesses about how we can help.”

Capital, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary later this year, is also set to announce a tech makeover in the next quarter as part of an ambitious digital transformation strategy, a move it hopes will attract younger members.

Ms Shiels added: “The Scottish Government launched its ‘People, Not Profit’ campaign in November last year at our office and that has also helped highlight the benefits of credit union membership. That campaign was also supported by actor Michael Sheen and there is no doubt our profile is rising.”