Savings

The Board of Ballyconnell Credit Union has taken the difficult decision to limit savings to €30,000 per account after a significant increase in the number of cash deposits made at the credit union and the knock-on implication this has had on the credit union’s ability to maintain the regulatory reserve set out by the Central Bank of Ireland, which is a minimum of 10% of our total assets. This means that for every additional €100,000 of savings, we have to allocate €10,000 from our surplus / profits to our Capital Reserve, and this can have the effect of depleting the amount available to pay a dividend at year end.

We also face the challenge of an extremely low interest rate environment which is greatly reducing the investment income that Ballyconnell Credit Union earns on deposit.

While we understand that this may be inconvenient, our number one priority at all times is to serve the best interests of our members and this will be reflected in all decisions taken by this credit union, and we have to make sure that the credit union meets all of its statutory requirements.

This will affect approximately 236 member accounts in total which represents c4% of total membership.

The credit union now has a saving restriction of €30,000 per account. If anyone currently has over that amount in savings here, they may leave their savings as they are, but cannot increase them. Members who have less than €30,000 in their account can increase their shares to €30,000 - but no more than that. The €30,000 limit also applies to joint accounts.

If you have any automated banking transactions being paid to your credit union account, please contact the office to discuss this, as these may need to be re-directed to an alternative location.

No, we are absolutely not asking members to take their money out of the credit union. If you have more than €30,000 in savings with us, you can leave your savings in place but you cannot increase them for the duration of the savings restriction. If you have less than €30,000, you are free to increase it to this amount, but not above this level.

The Board of Ballyconnell Credit Union will keep the savings restriction under constant review, if they make any decision to change the current arrangement you will be notified directly of this.

No, this has no bearing on the day to day operations of the credit union. Ballyconnell Credit Union is adequately capitalised at over €8 million and has assets of €40.2 million - which is double the regulatory requirement. In the past year, savings have increased by 7.2% and now stand at €32.1 million -and we have to meet the regulatory reserve of 10% of our total assets at all times.

Each time our savings increase, we have to allocate more money from our surplus funds to meet this regulatory reserve, therefore reducing the amount we have available to pay out a dividend or loan interest rebate. It also reduces the amount we can afford to invest in new services and new technology options that can benefit all of our members.

To reduce the impact of this savings growth, the decision was reluctantly taken to limit savings in order to benefit the greater number of our members.

Last year Ballyconnell Credit Union paid a dividend of 0.18% and/or a loan interest rebate of 10%. While it is too early this year to determine what rate of dividend or loan interest rebate, we may be in a position to pay out, we will be communicating with members directly to inform them once we are in a position to do so.

Absolutely. I can assure you that your savings remain safe and secure at Ballyconnell Credit Union. We are a financially strong and stable credit union with over €8 million in capital reserves and €40.2 million in assets.

In addition, your savings continue to be guaranteed by the Government Deposit Guarantee Scheme up to €100,000.

Ballyconnell Credit Union is in a strong position to give out loans, subject to appropriate assessments being completed. Our ability to lend is in no way affected by the savings cap. We continue to provide valuable loan services to the local community. We have great rates on a range of loans. If you are in need of a loan please talk to us about how we can help you.