Athlone & Castlerea Credit Union Ltd has reported continued growth in the past 12 months and is confidently looking forward to growing its membership even further in 2024.
Publishing its year end results, Athlone & Castlerea Credit Union stated that it had provided in excess of €19 million in loans to members of the local community during the past year.
“The year 2023 was a strong one for our credit union. As more and more people look for trusted sources of finance, we’re continuing to see increased demand for our services. We are very pleased to have supported over 3,000 members in undertaking home renovations and making large scale purchases, such as a buying a home, a new car, paying for a wedding and enjoying holidays at home and abroad.
“We are acutely aware of the significant pressures which so many people are facing due to the increases in the cost of living. We are pleased to be able to provide smaller loans to members to help them at ‘pinch points’ during the year, such as back to school costs or extra expenses at Christmas. The credit union ethos is to use our funds to help our members, and that is what we do at Athlone & Castlerea Credit Union.
“We were delighted, together with credit unions across the country, to be ranked as the most highly regarded organisation in Ireland for customer satisfaction, in the Ireland RepTrak® 2023 annual study (RepTrak® is the gold standard for measuring reputation ). This is an important acknowledgment of the trust that members place in their local credit union and the value placed on credit unions’ friendly people focused approach.
“As we continue to support our members and our local community, it is imperative that we continue to make responsible and prudent decisions to further strengthen our credit union. We are delighted to inform members that we are advancing discussions with St Jarlath’s Credit Union in relation to combining our resources to become an even stronger credit union. This initiative will provide assurances on the continuation of services locally and ensures that we will have the combined strength to meet the challenges ahead,” Mr Evans stated.
The CEO stated that there is a continuing focus on the enhancement and expansion of the services which Athlone & Castlerea Credit Union provides to enable the best possible experience for their members.
“As well as offering award winning personal, face-to-face service, ACCU is also rapidly enhancing our online and digital services. People want innovative services and personal respect and won’t accept that one should be at the expense of the other. Credit unions are focused on providing digital with human touch services. Regardless of the channel a member chooses to use to avail of a credit union’s services, there is always a friendly member of staff available to provide support and guidance as and when required.”
“We want to take this opportunity to thank all of our members for their loyalty during the year. We recognise and appreciate your support, and with your continued loyalty we will continue to make a positive difference to our community,” Mr Evans added.
Athlone & Castlerea Credit Union’s AGM will take place virtually via Zoom webinar on Monday, December 11, at 7pm.
“We welcome any questions that our members may have, so please email us in advance of the meeting. Equally, we will be able to take any questions you might have, on the night of the AGM,” Mr Evans concluded.
Members wishing to attend the Virtual AGM by Zoom need to request an invitation to join by emailing [email protected].
Please include the following information: Name, Address, Member Number, Email Address.
Request for attendance must be received by 5 p.m. on Friday 8th December 2023
