A special celebration for Unify Credit Union

Congrats to all the team at Unify CU

Unify Credit Union today celebrated its 10th anniversary of providing low cost, ethical financial services to the Wigan Borough.

Unify was established in 2002 by the formation of three small community credit unions. In 2009 the last remaining community credit union, Worsley Mesnes Credit Union, joined forces with Unify – making it the largest credit union in the Borough.
Credit Unions are community savings and loans co-operatives, owned and run by its members. Membership is available to anyone who lives or works within the Wigan Borough.

Members save with Unify and those savings are then used to give low cost loans to members. Any profits at the end of the financial year are given back to the members in the form of an annual dividend.

Today, Unify has grown to more than 6000 members and over £2.6million in assets. Unify has two local branch locations in Higher Ince and Leigh and 14 local collection points across the Borough.

Unify’s growth is echoed in figures released recently by the Financial Services Authority which show that the British credit union sector, offering its ethical and inclusive brand of financial services, goes from strength to strength with a 12% increase in deposits, 14% increase in lending and 15% increase in assets in 2011.

As a member of Unify I was welcomed to the Higher Ince HQ today by General Manager, Angela Fishwick as the celebrations were well underway.

For Angela today marks a special milestone in the history of the credit union movement in the Borough.
She said, “So many local people have given their time freely to developing the credit union in Wigan, and to see us reach this milestone and be so strong is great news for everyone involved.

“Unify is continuing to grow and develop services with the aim of becoming the main financial service provider for members; providing instant access savings, loans and bill payments.”

Access to affordable credit is a major issue for many people, especially where they need small sums to make an emergency purchase or to tide them over for a short period.

The collapse of the UK banking system and the proliferation of legal loan sharks has led many to conclude that credit unions are a viable alternative. Unify is run by its members for its members demonstrating the power of co-operation and concern for the community in which it operates.

I congratulate Angela and all who have worked to make Unify the success story that it is today and I will continue to promote the credit union movement as a safe and ethical alternative.