Along with the other three Big Local areas in Birmingham, BBL has been talking with Birmingham’s largest Credit Union, Citysave, about how to help local people access loans at a fair and reasonable rate of interest. With increasing pressure on households to go to Pay Day lenders for loans, Credit Unions offer a better option. Credit Unions are not-for-profit organisations owned and controlled by the members. Any surplus profits are returned to the members as a dividend. Credit Unions encourage regular saving and can also offer loans that are fair and affordable. Volunteers from Big Local areas recently attended a training course at Citysave to look at how we can improve access for Big Local residents to the financial services offered by Credit Unions. For more information about Citysave see – www.citysave.org.uk
