Safety of Credit Union Shares Credit unions are unique and unlike every other financial institution in their purpose, their governing rules, and the service they provide. Key differences include: Credit unions do not and cannot (by law) speculate with members money Credit union do not want, and cannot have, big deposits Credit unions can only leand for provident and productive purposes Credit unions only lend to their members, who must be saving regularly to be eiligible for a loan The savings and loans of our credit union members are insured (up to generous limits) at no extra cost to the individual member

Credit Union Savings Protection in Northern Ireland

The savings of members of credit unions in Northern Ireland which are affiliated to the irish league of Credit Unions (ILCU) may be protected by the ILCU's Savings Protection Scheme (SPS) at the discretion of the Administration Committee of the ILCU Board. Currently, the SPS stands at over £88 million.

The SPS is owned and operated by the ILCU and is available to proactively intervene to protect members' savings by making financial and other assitance available to participating credit union which may experience difficulty.

In the unlikely event that a credit union became insolvent, the SPS has a discretionary power to compensate each affected members up to a maximum of £10,000. No such claim for compensation has ever been made.

Credit unions are proactive and are not content to soley rely on a deposit guarantee which only comes into play after collapse. Our own SPS fund, if required, can intervene early to stabilise a credit union allowing it trade out any difficulty thereby preventing collapse.

Credit union in Northern Ireland must also keep 10% of their assets in reserve.