DUBLIN, Ireland–CUSOP, a credit union-owned electronic payments company backed by the Irish League of Credit Unions, is getting closer to launching a new debit card for credit unions.
The company is currently testing the card with Ballinasloe Credit Union, with a plan to roll out the debit card with an additional 14 credit unions across the country, with plans to have them all live by the first half of this year.
Bróna Biddulph, project delivery manager with CUSOP, told The Independent the card creates choice and competition for this service across credit unions and their members.
"It's significant in a couple of ways," she told the publication. "It is significant in the environment we are operating in. It removes the dependency from a cash perspective for the credit unions and their members, giving them that remoteness. It also gives members a choice to do all of their banking services with their credit union."
Monthly Fee to Be Charged
According to the report, there will be a monthly charge associated with each debit card, ranging from €4 to €6, to be set by the credit unions. CUs will also will have the choice to set an ATM usage charge and a point-of-sale charge.
Following the initial rollout, the service will be available to nearly 400,000 credit union members.
It will then be available to all credit unions authorized by the Central Bank of Ireland to provide the service, the Independent reported.