DUBLIN, Ireland–Legislation has been introduced in this country that would allow credit unions to offer a national mortgage rate, which would make CUs an even more attractive alternative to banks, according to the legislation’s sponsor.
Fianna Fáil MEP Billy Kelleher, who chairs the European Parliament’s Credit Union Interest Group, is backing the bill, which would follow in the wake of the first phase of implementation of the 2023 Credit Union (Amendment) Act, the first piece of credit union-specific legislation in more than 12 years, according to the Southern Star.
The second phase is expected in April.
Some credit unions are already offering mortgages, but the new legislation will enable non-mortgage lending credit unions to refer their members to other credit unions, the report stated.
‘Greatly Expand Offering’
‘We all know how important credit unions have been in terms of supporting families with personal, car, holiday and other loans,” Kelleher said. “Now, with the enactment of this Act, we will see our credit unions be able to greatly expand their offering in terms of mortgages. The law will allow the credit union movement to collaborate nationally on mortgages by developing and marketing a national brand and a national mortgage rate.”
Kelleher told the Southern Star Ireland’s traditional banking sector is too small and that the lack of competition pushes interest rates up in the country.
According to the report, member CUs of the Irish League of Credit Unions hold more than €310m in savings alone.
As CUToday.info has previously reported, the Central Bank, which regulates Ireland’s credit unions, places a cap on CUs’ loan-to-assets ratio, which has led the country’s average ratio to be below 30%.
There have been numerous calls for the lifting of that cap.
Now With Free Shipping! The CUToday.info Daily News Email Keeps Getting Better!
The biggest, best and freshest news reporting in credit unions remains free, and now has an added bonus---free shipping to your email address! That’s right. Each morning CUToday.info delivers its daily Fresh Today news update offering the latest headlines and breaking news right to your email, with the easy-to-read headlines format allowing you to click on the stories that interest you most in order to learn more. So stop paying those bank-fee-like subscription prices from other so-called “news” publications!
If you haven’t yet signed up for the new email solution on which CUToday.info has partnered with ResponseGenius, you can do so here. Signing up requires less than one minute of your time—and it’s free!
Please note that after signing up you may need to go to your Spam/Junk folder and mark the morning headlines email as safe. CUToday.info does not provide its list of readers and emails to outside parties, and we will not be contacting you to sell you an extended warranty or sending you any links so you may cash in on an inheritance you didn’t know was coming.
And did we mention it’s free?