Keys to Success South Yorkshire Credit Union Ltd

Brief History Started as Barnsley Credit Union Ltd July 2002 Live or work In Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Community credit union focus Started with Coalfields Grant Back office focus to start with collection points Local authority did allow payroll deduction, but only in the Town Hall

Brief History October 2006 Growth Fund contract July 2008 Merger with Little Dearne CU 800 active members. July 2008 managed Danum CU GF contract May 2010 merged with Danum CU 2000 active members

Where are we now 15,617 active members 30 Sept 2011 Barnsley9679 Doncaster5938 Out of area 511 Savings 2,800,513 Loans4,448,303

Keys to Success Shop front premises Capacity Based Lending & Cash payments Uncomplicated products – one loan rate Simple advertising Standing order & Bill Payments Housing benefit payments Good customer experience and service Lending with advice Growth Fund

Shop Front Premises We soon realised that although we had central offices they were not accessible to the general public. We were not growing at the planned rates and had difficulties with the collection points. In 2004 we identified shop front premises on the edge of town. These accessible premises saw a rapid growth in membership.

Cash Payments The shop front premises saw the need for better ways of dealing with members and they wanted cash. We moved away from the saving multiplier to capacity based lending. We required members to pay electronically This meant members wanted cash, something they trusted and new about.

Products We had tried to get our loans out using variable interest rates and larger loans, this did not work. We decided that we would become small loans specialists with just one interest rate This allowed us to simplify our advertising.

Advertising After much trial and error and taking of advice on marketing our advertising was a failure. Then some one gave me the simple secret, advertise one aspect only and cross sell. Our advertising became: On benefits? Need a Loan? Our phones did not stop ringing!

Service with a smile We soon found that we needed to make the customer journey as easy and pleasant as possible. With one product and a simple telephone message introduction. Our members do deserve a prompt and polite service and it is appreciated.

Lending with Advice We found that many people were used to ‘throwing money at a problem’. Using my experience with the CAB we were able to offer alternatives to loans to sort out problems such as rent arrears and council tax arrears. Members saw this as great help and ‘free’ money.

Bill Payments A natural extension to the advice was offering money management. This meant making payments on behalf of the members to mainly priority creditors. Members saw this as a great help and would ask if we could do more payments for them. Many saw the advantages of electronic payments for the first time.

Housing Allowance With the introduction of Housing Allowance we realised that we could not meet the cash demand. So we turned this to our advantage and insisted to was sent directly to the landlord. This has resulted in a better working partnership with the private landlords.

Growth Fund The growth fund was a great help to the credit union providing us with the opportunity to grow the credit union. We were able to advertise with confidence and to put systems in place to deal with the growth.