International Credit Union Day 2018
Credit Union Difference Celebrated on Historic International Credit Union Day!
Letterkenny Credit Union joins more than 68,800 credit unions around the world to celebrate the 70th annual International Credit Union Day (ICU Day) today October 18th. In addition to being an important anniversary for the global movement, credit unions here are also celebrating 60 successful years of service in Ireland. To mark this significant milestone in Irish credit union history, this year’s ICU Day celebrations will focus on the unique financial services offered by credit unions.
The celebrations will revolve around the theme of the ‘credit union difference’, putting people at the heart of everything we do, which has endured for the past six decades in Ireland. All credit unions remain not-for-profit institutions that operate independently. All credit union decisions on services, products and the future direction of the organisation are made at a local level, and in the best interest of the local membership. Credit unions remain a trusted and reliable provider of affordable credit in the communities they serve. In short, credit union members always come first, above all else.
Letterkenny Credit Union will mark the occasion in a variety of ways!
Speaking about ICU Day Gordon Randles, CEO at Letterkenny Credit Union said: “Letterkenny Credit Union, like all credit unions, shares a common goal to offer access to affordable credit and loans to the local communities we serve. We strive to provide even the most financially disadvantaged sectors of our communities with the tools and the opportunities to be financially self-sufficient – and to help them on the road to achieving their goals in life; be they education or travel goals, a wedding or renovating the home for the family. This is the credit union difference that makes a real, positive impact on the lives of people in Letterkenny and the surrounding areas. We look forward to celebrating this with our members, and indeed the whole community, on ICU Day.”
Letterkenny Credit Union has been proudly serving the Letterkenny area for over 56 years. Letterkenny Credit Union has a membership of 21,000 and in the past year alone has provided over 15.4 million in loans to the local community! The size of these loans ranged from €100 to €35,000 proving that no loan is too big or small for your local credit union.
Worldwide, 68,882 credit unions in 109 countries serve 231 million members. There are 3.6 million credit union members across the island of Ireland alone, which is one of the highest number of members per head of population. In Ireland, as in other countries, credit unions with their not-for-profit and member-first ethos provide effective and viable alternatives to financial institutions which operate for profit. ICU Day has been celebrated annually since 1948, and is traditionally marked on the third Thursday in October.
