Latest news with #CreditUnion
Finextra
3 days ago
- Business
- Finextra
Financial Plus Credit Union partners Credit Mountain on lain approval process
Financial Plus Credit Union is proud to announce a new partnership with Credit Mountain, a Credit Union Service Organization-built platform that empowers borrowers through personalized financial education, digital credit counseling, and real-time progress tracking. 0 This content is provided by an external author without editing by Finextra. It expresses the views and opinions of the author. Through this partnership, Financial Plus will introduce the Warm Decline—a reimagined and redesigned credit decline process that meets members with empathy and offers a clear path to loan eligibility. Applicants will have access to a digital experience where they can choose financial goals, follow a personalized action plan, and access tools and education to improve their financial health. 'We understand that applying for a loan and taking a new financial step can feel intimidating,' said Andrea Coggins, Vice President of Lending at Financial Plus Credit Union. 'That's why it's important tomeet consumers where they are—not just saying 'no' when they hit a roadblock, but instead saying, 'not yet,' and then walking alongside them with the tools, knowledge, and resources to help them reach their highest potential.' 'We're proud to partner with Financial Plus to turn declines into opportunities,' said Aaron Kelemen, Client Success Leader at Credit Mountain. 'Together, we're making lending more human—offering real solutions and support when members need it most.' In addition to the member-facing experience, Credit Mountain will also bring greater efficiency to the lending process by automating adverse action notices and reducing operational overhead.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
PrimeWay Credit Union Launches New Debt Consolidation Program to Help Members Pay Off Debt Faster
PrimeWay Credit Union announces new debt consolidation loan program designed to help members combine multiple bills into one monthly payment with competitive rates starting at 8.99%. HOUSTON, TX / / June 2, 2025 / PrimeWay Federal Credit Union has launched a new debt consolidation program to help members combine all their debts into one simple monthly payment. Many people struggle with multiple debts and numerous bills each month. A study shows that most Americans have five or more credit cards and loans, making it challenging to keep up with payments and reduce overall debt. PrimeWay's new Debt Consolidation program allows members to consolidate various debts - including credit card debt, store card debt, and other loans - into one loan. This enables members to make only one payment each month. The rate starts at 8.99% for the first six months. After that, rates can be as low as 10.50% for up to 2 years, depending on credit score. "We saw that our members were drowning in debt and spending too much money on high interest," said Michelle Oshinski, from PrimeWay Credit Union. "Our new Debt Consolidation program helps fix this problem. It gives members one simple payment and could help them save money on interest and get out of debt much faster." PrimeWay educates members about financial literacy through their educational blog. Their website features articles about debt consolidation, saving money, and debt repayment strategies. Members can visit the PrimeWay blog to find tips and guides that explain how debt consolidation may help reduce interest payments and accelerate debt payoff. Members who participate in this Debt Consolidation program may receive several benefits. Managing finances becomes easier with just one debt payment. Members no longer need to track multiple payment due dates across various debts. They may pay less interest than they would on high-rate credit card debt. Additionally, members will have a clear timeline for when their debt will be completely paid off, helping them achieve improved financial stability. PrimeWay Federal Credit Union has served the greater Houston community since 1937, offering a range of financial products and services designed to meet the evolving needs of its membership base. For more information about PrimeWay Credit Union and its Debt Consolidation program, please visit APR = Annual Percentage Rate. Rates may change and depend on credit score. All loans must be approved. Media Contact Organization: PrimeWay Federal Credit UnionContact Person Name: Keith HuckabayWebsite: khuckabay@ 12811 Northwest Fwy, Houston, TX 77040City: HoustonState: TexasCountry: United States SOURCE: PrimeWay Federal Credit Union View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire Sign in to access your portfolio
Irish Independent
30-05-2025
- Politics
- Irish Independent
Home truths: A well-meaning group of volunteers can achieve great things, but they're not the people to solve our housing crisis
Mary, the leading light at a local Credit Union, would claim the minister's role on the basis of being 'really strict with lending', and then propose a nationwide monthly car draw scheme to increase revenue. Martin the secondary school teacher would take charge of tech industry returns on the grounds that he is ' good with computers', while Averill, who runs the local horse sanctuary, would offer a plan to double the corporation tax on all firms that don't reuse their plastic cups. Mary would tell Averill that's a stupid idea and Averill would propose a motion that Mary doesn't 'get to dominate everything and talk everyone down, like she always does.' You get the idea. And so does anyone who has ever sat on a committee of volunteers. A well-meaning group of volunteers can certainly achieve great things. But as you scale up from raising the cash to fund a community hall to running a country, most would agree (anarcho-syndicalists aside) that some things are best left to the government. But what happens when the elected and appointed don't or won't step-up? Marrying the concerned citizen to an uncaring, non-acting government gives birth to the volunteer. Blend pots of deeply concerned punters with ridiculously detached governance and you get great big Waltons-sized truckloads of them. Before long, you've got a volunteer infestation. The government gets lots of services for free, or at a discount, that it should be providing as a matter of course And charities are breeding like rabbits in Ireland. In 2023, 130 new registered charities sprang up, and there are now approximately 11,500 charities employing more than 280,000 people. That's one in eight of the total workforce. And for a few wily types, creating a brand new charity is a quick route to a bespoke CEO's role and salary based on donations, good intentions and preferential tax treatment. But again, for the most part, we can agree that volunteering and charity work is beneficial. Those who need help get more of it. Those who give help or cough up a donation get the 'volunteer glow' of knowing they are doing something beneficial for the greater good. Employers who push volunteering in their workforce get to demonstrate that they are concerned about more than a filthy buck. And besides, they don't have to do it themselves. And government? Well, this is the problem. Because the government gets lots of services for free, or at a discount, that it should be providing as a matter of course. It also gets to absolve itself of responsibility for failures. As time goes on, the more government leans on charities for stuff it should be doing anyway, the more reliant a State becomes and the less results are produced. Because volunteers don't know the stuff professional experts do. Charities are also a natural attractant for the sort of people my late grandmother (otherwise always charitable) used to call 'busybodies' – with us for so long that 2,000 years ago, Paul the Apostle was moved to vent to Timothy (in the New Testament) about the busybodies of Ephesus: 'And withal they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house; and not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies...' Just as we acclaim the solid achievements of volunteers, the downsides (sometimes biblical) should equally be called out in a time when government increasingly hands over the reins of national and local responsibilities to charities and other not-for-profit organisations. Random examples of volunteering backfires include: The building and funding of orphanages in poorer countries by charities to the extent that locals strive to get their children into them because they will be better fed and educated for free. Thus the number of 'orphans' rises, along with the number of orphanages. JK Rowling set up a charity to take resulting 'orphans' out of such orphanages and return them to their parents with supports. In the USA, a proliferation of home defence volunteer groups has seen well-armed local militias becoming so politically charged that some are now viewed more as a threat to local security, rather than a protector of it. With the postmistress and school headmaster running automatic weapon bristling private armies, what could possibly go wrong? Girls/boys from privileged Western schools raising thousands in funds to be flown to and accommodated in developing countries in order to 'build houses' for the poor. It distorts the local economy by taking jobs from locals who would build those homes more efficiently and cheaply using tried-and-tested local methods. Send the thousands instead, pay locals to do it and let them benefit in full. Conversely, volunteer groups here in Ireland have made an outsized difference in housing provision during the crisis. Against a background where the government has not managed to bring about a solution to the most pressing national problem for the past 12 years, thousands today owe their homes to what have become known as Approved Housing Bodies (AHB). In 2013, there were 237 Irish Approved Housing Bodies. A decade later in 2023 there are more than 520 of them. In that year, they constructed almost 6,000 new homes nationwide, or 18pc of total national output. In some local authority areas, AHB's accounted for half or more of all social housing built in that year. Thus, over a decade charities have gone from making minor, albeit significant contributions, to being the main social housing player in some locations. The Irish AHB sector has now got so big that today, it controls properties worth more than €8.3bn on which those AHBs have €7bn worth of borrowings But can't we see what's wrong with this picture? Is it really wise to increasingly foist responsibility for the biggest state crisis of the last decade over to NGOs who, to a large extent, rely on volunteers and well-meaning types for their management and activities rather than professional specialists who know their onions? And, here's a wild one for you: maybe the State should, in fact, be facilitating all that housing output in the first place? Successive governments have made a policy of increasing reliance on approved bodies to deliver housing in our crisis. The Irish AHB sector has now got so big that today, it controls properties worth more than €8.3bn on which those AHBs have €7bn worth of borrowings. Despite receiving €1.8bn in state funds in 2023 alone. The first hints at a problem came in 2020 with a briefing prepared for the Department of Housing which, among other things, highlighted how gardaí were investigating one AHB that provides at least 50 properties to vulnerable tenants. Other problems at the same housing charity included the 'financial viability' of the organisation, 'revenue issues' and 'cultural, historical and governance' issues. The brief claimed a second, even larger housing association managing over 300 social housing properties had 'limited governance', while the financial viability of this organisation was 'unable to be ascertained'. Another large housing association was found to have 'general non-compliance' across multiple areas and issues with 'financial viability'. At the time, an investigation was also ordered into a fourth large housing association, including 'a full review of governance, financial management and performance management'. Meantime, last week's Sunday Independent carried a story highlighting that Housing charities and not-for-profits delivering social housing are failing to meet basic governance standards recently set by the new regulatory body and as evidenced from early rounds of assessments. They could be cut off from state funding as a result. The article outlines how the Approved Housing Bodies Regulatory Authority (AHBRA) set up after the worrying revelations, began assessing some of the 437 housing associations on its own register in late 2023. The initial results are shocking. Of the 37 assessed, none were found fully compliant with the standards set by the regulator in the areas of finance, governance, property management and tenancy management. An additional 12 approved housing bodies (AHBs) failed to meet standards but were 'working towards compliance'. Eighteen housing associations did meet standards, but needed to make improvements. With the government now fessing up that those who are not experts at housing are showing themselves to be inexpert, it is likely even fewer homes will be built in Ireland in the coming year What started out with local grassroots organisations of upstanding volunteers set up to raise cash to house people the State would not, has transmogrified into an out-of-control (albeit wholly well-intentioned) nationwide juggernaut greased by state funding on a massive scale, as government increasingly encourages AHBs to take on more of the housing job that it, and the local authorities, are supposed to be doing. So at this point, with the government now fessing up that those who are not experts at housing are showing themselves to be inexpert, it is likely that even fewer homes will be built in Ireland in the coming year, with dozens of AHBs likely to be stood down in their housing output activities until they pass their quality exams. While appointing a regulatory body for AHBs was wise, increasingly farming out our national responsibility to charities on a large scale over 10 years, has been extraordinarily misguided. For all the very same reasons you can't have Mary from the credit union, Martin the school teacher and Averill from the horse sanctuary running things down at the Department of Finance. Tea and biscuits anyone?
South China Morning Post
28-05-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong policeman admits hiding debts to cheat credit union out of HK$280,000
A Hong Kong policeman has admitted concealing the full extent of his debts to secure HK$280,000 (US$35,723) in loans from the force's credit union, claiming that his divorce and custody battle with his ex-wife had clouded his judgment. Advertisement Traffic officer Shum Sze-long, 45, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to a count of fraud and one of attempted fraud for providing inaccurate and incomplete information to the Hong Kong Police Credit Union when he applied for two loans in 2020 and 2021. Fanling Court heard that the now-suspended officer understated his monthly instalment of a loan previously extended to him by another financial institution when he borrowed HK$198,000 from the credit union on March 11, 2020. Shum claimed that he was required to make a monthly repayment of HK$6,625, whereas the actual amount exceeded HK$15,000. He also hid from the union the fact that he had signed up to an individual voluntary arrangement, a legally binding debt restructuring plan, when he sought another loan of HK$80,280 on May 24, 2021. Advertisement Defence counsel highlighted in mitigation the 'exceptional circumstances' of Shum's transgression, noting that the officer was emotionally disturbed by divorce proceedings with his ex-wife.
Irish Independent
23-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Independent
Revealed: the number of people who wouldn't cope if they got a sudden bill for €1,000
The findings in a recent survey have prompted a leading economist to support calls for another cost-of-living package in this year's budget. Researchers asked people if they could cope financially if they were faced with an emergency costing €1,000. One in seven (14pc) consumers say they would be unable to cope with such a financial emergency, a special question asked as part of the Credit Union Consumer Sentiment Survey for May shows. Independent economist Austin Hughes, who analyses the survey, said the results suggest a continuing strain on household finances from the cost-of-living crisis. He said household spending power has declined and the findings support calls for another cost-of-living package in this year's budget. 'From a policy perspective, these survey findings run counter to the widely heard argument that lower inflation and rising aggregate incomes mean further fiscal supports are no longer required,' he said. The Government has ruled out an across-the-board package to support households in October's budget, but hinted at measures targeted at the most vulnerable. Central Statistics Office figures show grocery prices are up an estimated 36pc in the last four years. 'While inflation has eased over the past year, it has started to pick up again in recent months and, far more importantly, consumer prices have not retraced any of the sharp increases of recent years,' Mr Hughes said. 'In these circumstances, it is not entirely surprising that significant numbers of Irish consumers say they would struggle to cope with a financial emergency at present.' The Credit Union survey, in partnership with Core Research, shows financial circumstances and conditions continue to vary markedly across Irish households. Responses show a third of consumers would be able to call on savings to deal with an unexpected financial emergency. One in five would resort to using their income to fund the outlay. ADVERTISEMENT Mr Hughes said survey findings indicate just over half of Irish consumers could be regarded as financially 'comfortable' at present. About one-in-four consumers might be seen as 'clinging on'' financially. He said around one in five could be described as 'coping' in the current circumstances. However, this share who are coping has declined as consumer circumstances diverge. 'The trend in recent years is for a small increase in the numbers clinging on. There is a slight increase in the comfortable, and a drop in the number of those who are coping,' Mr Hughes said. He said this raised a question about whether middle-income people have been squeezed too much. The economist said the evidence at home and abroad is that economic and social fracture is damaging and destabilising.
