Credit union advertising criticised

Only just over 30% of credit unions are fully complying with advertising standards, findings by the Central Bank show.

In its review of how lending institutions are adhering to advertising and promotion requirements, as set out in the consumer credit regulations, the Central Bank said yesterday, of 291 ads studied, approximately 30% didn’t contain all the relevant information required, or display what information they did contain in a clear, concise and prominent way.

Additionally, instances of non-compliance with marketing regulations, were frequent — mostly so in the sample of credit union marketing activity reviewed. The Central Bank found that only one-third of credit union cases met the regulations. This compared with a 99% compliance rate for the mainstream banks and an 88% hit rate for licensed moneylenders.