Time to give credit to the credit unions - Regulation row

OF all the financial institutions that suffered during Ireland’s economic crash, the credit union movement emerged the most intact. Only 1% of them have needed State funding since the financial crisis.

The reasons for this are threefold:

1. Unlike the banks, credit unions are not profit-driven or beholden to shareholders. They are co-operatives owned by their members, who are depositors and borrowers. They are solely responsible to those members, who are also their customers.