More than €19m in loans provided by ACCU in the past year
Pictured at the launch, earlier this year, of a three-year student bursary linking Castlerea Community School, the Technological University of the Shannon – Athlone and Athlone Castlerea Credit Union were Michael Evans, CEO Athlone & Castlerea Credit Union; Eileen Ryan, Principal Castlerea Community School; Marie Baggot, Board Member Athlone & Castlerea Credit Union and Claire Connor, TUS Student Recruitment Officer.
Athlone & Castlerea Credit Union Ltd has reported continued growth in the past twelve months and is confidently looking forward to growing its membership even further in 2024. Publishing its year end results, Athlone & Castlerea Credit Union said it has provided over €19m in loans to members of the local community over the past year.
Michael Evans, CEO Athlone & Castlerea Credit Union said: "2023 was a strong year for our credit union. As more and more people look for trusted sources of finance, we’re continuing to see increased demand for our services. We are very pleased to have supported over 3,000 members in undertaking home renovations and making large scale purchases, such as a buying a home, a new car, paying for a wedding and enjoying holidays at home and abroad.
“We are acutely aware of the significant pressures which so many people are facing due to the increases in the cost of living. We are pleased to be able to provide smaller loans to members to help them at ‘pinch points’ during the year, such as back to school costs or extra expenses at Christmas. The credit union ethos is to use our funds to help our members, and that is what we do at Athlone & Castlerea Credit Union,” said Mr Evans.
“We were delighted, together with credit unions across the country, to be ranked as the most highly regarded organisation in Ireland for customer satisfaction, in the Ireland RepTrak® 2023 annual study (RepTrak® is the gold standard for measuring reputation). This is an important acknowledgment of the trust that members place in their local credit union and the value placed on credit unions’ friendly people focused approach.
“As we continue to support our members and our local community, it is imperative that we continue to make responsible and prudent decisions to further strengthen our credit union. We are delighted to inform members that we are advancing discussions with St Jarlath’s Credit Union in relation to combining our resources to become an even stronger credit union. This initiative will provide assurances on the continuation of services locally and ensures that we will have the combined strength to meet the challenges ahead."
Mr Evans continued: “We continue to focus our efforts on enhancing and expanding the services which we provide, in order to offer the best possible service to our members.
"As well as offering award winning personal, face-to-face service, ACCU is also rapidly enhancing our online and digital services. People want innovative services and personal respect and won’t accept that one should be at the expense of the other. Credit unions are focused on providing digital with human touch services. Regardless of the channel a member chooses to use to avail of a credit union’s services, there is always a friendly member of staff available to provide support and guidance as and when required.
“We want to take this opportunity to thank all of our members for their loyalty during the year. We recognise and appreciate your support, and with your continued loyalty we will continue to make a positive difference to our community.”
* Athlone & Castlerea Credit Union’s AGM will take place virtually via Zoom webinar on Monday, December 11th at 7 p.m..
