EDITION 25 - Do credit unions alleviate poverty?

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The purpose of credit unions is obvious, isn’t it? Well, isn’t it?

One of the perceptions about credit unions is that they ‘alleviate poverty’ and I guess many within the Irish & UK credit union movement will accept that perception. I suspect that banks are not perceived as alleviating poverty, by the general public or even bank workers. 

So, do credit unions alleviate poverty?

I spoke to three well known experienced credit union people; Paul Jones, Eileen Halligan & Des Morrisey and put this question to them. I started with Dr Paul A. Jones, Director of Research at CFCFE, who is also Reader in the Social Economy at Liverpool John Moores University, where he heads up the Research Unit for Financial Inclusion. 

I then spoke with Eileen Halligan, CEO & Secretary at Central Liverpool Credit Union.  A well established credit union with over 16,000 members with three branches.

Finally, I got the views of Des Morrisey, the former, CEO of Tallaght Credit Union in Ireland. A 35 year old credit union with 17, 000 members, with over EU65m in assets. 

Talking Credit Unions is a regular podcast dedicated to informing credit union practitioners, leaders, and opinion formers on a variety of industry topics. The podcast is sponsored by the Swoboda Research Centre.