Is there an investment return on my savings?

Yes, there can be. Every pound saved buys a ‘share’ in the credit union.

If a trading surplus is made by the credit union, after an allocation to the reserves (a cushion against bad debts) and the length of time shares remain continuously invested; this gives qualification to a share of the dividend pool. This method stops ‘dividend stripping’ or “share pushing”, i.e. the making of short-term deposits to buy a dividend with the shares then withdrawn. This approach is unique to credit unions and underlines their fairness to all owner-members.

The Regulators can give consent to established credit unions with audited reserves (set at a regulatory level) to pay interim dividends or even have a long term fixed dividend account.

Dividends and where appropriate interest on shares is paid gross and in most cases added to the owner-member’s share account, increasing their savings.