DUBLIN, Ireland—In what is a significant move in this country some of Ireland’s largest credit unions have been given the go-ahead to roll out what are known as “full service current accounts” for members, representing a significant product expansion for some CUs.
Meanwhile, the country’s credit unions have again finished on top of a national survey for customer excellence.
Under the common brand Currentaccount.ie, 30 credit unions with 115 branches across the country will begin to offer members services that include a Mastercard debit card with contactless payments, standing orders (automatic payments), direct debits and overdraft facilities.
According to the Irish Times, the new brand will seek to undercut the charges imposed by banks by offering a standard monthly fee of €4, which will cover unlimited point of sale and contactless transactions, mobile and online transactions, standing orders, direct debits and five ATM withdrawals per month.
“This is a really significant day for our Irish credit union sector,” said Minister for Community Development Michael Ring told the Irish Times. Ring hailed the credit unions involved “for continuing to work together to find ways to support their members and cement their future development”.
Ring pointed to what he called “the increasing depletion of some financial services available to communities” and expressed the view that the initiative “could not have come at a more opportune time” and concluded by saying it was excellent news for communities around Ireland, the Irish Times reported.
Very Important Milestone
Seamus Newcombe, CEO of currentaccount.ie, said the move is “a very important milestone in the development of the credit union sector in this country,” adding credit unions will now be known for offering something different to the major banks “and are considered more friendly and trustworthy,” according to the Irish Times.
He added credit union members with savings and loans will now be able to get “a competitive current account from their trusted credit union and they will no longer need to go to a bank to get this service.”
The new offerings follow three years of work by credit unions and the Central Bank, which regulates CUs n Ireland, as well as third-party debit card providers.
Rated Highest on Service
Separately, Ireland’s credit unions have again finished on top of a national survey for customer excellence. The country’s banks, meanwhile, continue to lag in the CXi Report.
Credit unions have traditionally performed well in the survey.
The “customer excellence” report by CXi was conducted by Amárach Research and included 2,500 Irish consumers who were asked about their customer experiences.
Credit unions retained their No 1 slot for customer experience after helping “every employee to continue to deliver a consistent and remarkable experience” for the consumer, according to the survey.
Banks Fail to Make Top 100
In contrast, the main banks failed to make a top-100 place, reported the Irish Examiner.
“Unfortunately, the credit union is the only representative from the financial sector in the top 100,” said chairman Michael Killeen at the CX Company, in a statement.
Other retailers that performed well as rated by Ireland’s consumers included Laya Healthcare, PhoneWatch, retailers Oxendales and Specsavers performed strongly in the past year, as did Arnotts, Peter Mark, Boots, and Lush Cosmetics, and An Post.