Three Tips For Setting Up A Financial Union

A credit union is essentially a financial cooperative set up within a community for members of the community. They usually offer brilliant loan rates with a mission to help people of the community get out of debt and generally educate them about banking and the financial sector. They can help communities grow and play a vital part in supporting and increasing the local economy. If you wish to set up your own credit union, here are some tips.

Do Your Research

First you need to investigate whether there’s already a credit union in operation in your area, then you need to find out how many members of your community actually want a credit union and would use its facilities. You can use forms known as non-committal pledge forms. These can be great to show potential colleagues who you want on board that there really is space for a credit union in your area. Don’t forget you’ll need a diverse team around you too, people with financial nouce like accountants but also people who have some knowledge of running financial businesses like a bank manager. Once you’ve done this and come up with a business plan, you can apply to the relevant financial authority to outline your plans and prove you and your members all share a common bond.

Begin Marketing Your Credit Union

Once your credit union is open you’ll need to start marketing it. Primarily because you’ll need members as soon as possible to keep is sustainable. In smaller communities the majority of this can be done via word of mouth, but use posters in local libraries and community centers. Perhaps arrange to speak to a local community association and highlight the benefits of you’re going to provide. You should also set up your own website, if people hear about your union they can simply find you online, this hits a wider audience too and could reach potential members from outside your immediate area of operation. You can even use online application forms to take some strain off of your in house staff, the setup of these can be quite complex but there is some great commercial web design for credit unions out there. They can help you set your site up so it looks professional and works properly.

Make It Attractive

Find a great premises, you can do this by appealing to the community, perhaps there is some cheap office space to rent or an old building that hasn’t been occupied for a while. You need to use this space to attract savers, because without savers you won’t have money to load out to people who need them. It should be professional, and well set out. Go into your local banks and see what they’re doing, you’ll likely see clean open spaces and well lit side offices. Follow suit, it’ll lend your union an element of professionalism and experience that can put potential savers at ease. There are many challenges for financial businesses, but by using a premises you lend yourself some credibility. People will know they can come and speak to you if something has gone wrong, instead of having to phone you.