Welsh Government boost to increase credit union membership

A range of projects to support credit unions in Wales have been announced by Welsh Labour’s Minister for Communities and Tackling Poverty, Jeff Cuthbert.

Funding of over £1.2m from the Welsh Government is being given to national and local schemes which include a publicity campaign, money management education and the development of financial services.

The announcement follows credit unions being challenged to provide additional financial services and products to meet the needs of customers. Schemes receiving funding from the Welsh Government will increase awareness of credit union and increase membership.  Funding is being allocated to 19 projects, seven of which are national schemes and 12 are local.

Welsh Government funding for credit unions has supported the increase in membership to approximately 73,000 members. The target now is for the number of people using credit unions to increase to of 6% of the population by 2020.