Welcome to Croydon, Merton & Sutton Credit Union

Another record year for CMSCU

At the Annual General Meeting of Croydon, Merton & Sutton Credit Union on Tuesday 20th March, the Directors reported on another successful year's trading. Highlights include:

• Member's share capital exceeds £1.25m
• Loans due from members exceed £1m
• Interest income on loans exceed £100,000
• Membership up by 38%
• Annual running costs per member reduced to £54 per member
• Dividend declared, payable at 0.5% on savings balances at 30th September 2011

The 2010/11 financial year was the first year of our extended "common bond" which permits people who live and/or work in Merton and Sutton to become members of the Union. There are now more than 300 members resident in each of the "new" boroughs. We have established outreach desks in both of the new boroughs, as detailed on our Opening Hours page.

During 2010/11 we began to reap the benefits of our staffing re-organisation. Helen Mason was appointed as our Operations Manager, and the other organisational roles re-aligned with one redundancy. We have since appointed a new outreach worker specifically to work in Merton in collaboration with Merton Priory Homes.

In an effort to improve our service to members we are opening new delivery channels. Using our website, it is possible to request the balance of your account(s), changes in your contact details or notify us if you are encountering problems repaying a loan. These services are available 24 hours a day, throughout the year and mean that you do not have to visit or phone our offices during our restricted opening hours.

The Union's annual accounts showed a surplus of £15,846 after tax, and the Directors recommended, and the membership agreed, a dividend of 0.5% on savings. This will cost about £6,800, the remainder will be held in reserves. At the year end accounting date our total reserves amounted to £42,104, approximately 3.3% of our members' assets. Our aim is still to increase our reserves to 4%.

Understandably, in these recessionary times, we are threatened by the risk of bad debt. Thankfully, due to our responsible lending policy, and the diligence of our members in repaying loans, our bad debt provision was slightly over 4.9% at the financial year end. The AGM agreed that eleven members that have defaulted on their loans should be expelled from membership.

Helen Mason, Operations Manager, gave a short presentation detailing proposed rule changes and the reasons behind them. After a short discussion members approved the changes, which now need to be approved by the Financial Services Authority.

Members present at the meeting expressed their thanks to the staff of the Union for the professional and friendly service they receive. Questions were also asked about the lending policy as average loan value fell marginally by 2% to £1,060.

The facilities provided by Croydon College, in terms of IT, audio visual systems, and most particularly the catering provision were excellent.

Croydon, Merton & Sutton Credit Union: A Savings & Loans Co-operative