The following post is provided by the Association of British Credit Unions Ltd. (ABCUL), World Council's direct member organization in the UK.

As Norwich Credit Union (NCU) entered lockdown, it had to adapt quickly ensure it could continue to meet the financial needs of its members.

“We quickly enlisted RSign to enable us to offer the ability to get loan agreements signed electronically, eliminating the need for attendance at our now closed service points” said Danny Thomas, Director of Norwich Credit Union.

NCU also changed its loan application processing and started using open banking via Lending Metrics, eliminating the requirement for members to submit paper bank statements.

“All of this has also allowed us to move more confidently into the instant loan market," said Thomas. "Currently, we require members to join and save for 13 weeks before they are eligible for a loan, and then at only double what they have managed to save.”

Thomas is a graduate of the first year of the CU Futures program.

“My experience as a member of the inaugural CU Futures cohort has proved invaluable throughout this period. As well as giving me the confidence in my opinions and convictions to pitch to my more experienced fellow board members, it has opened up a brilliant support network of fellow graduates that I can call on for advice or support," said Thomas. "An example of how this has helped is that I was able to ask a favor of a fellow CU Future participant experience on one of the new processes we adopted to give us some training ahead of implementation. Participation in the CU Futures program has been of enormous help to me and to Norwich Credit Union.”

Looking ahead to the future, Thomas believes his credit union is in a good position to continue to provide its valued service to the community.

“With these new processes, we are now more confident we can cater to a whole new market—those who need loans quickly—which will put us in direct competition with nefarious loan sharks and payday lenders.”