Helping you cope with Covid

Last month we asked members to respond to a short survey all about how the pandemic has affected you and how the credit union might have helped you through.  A whopping 841 of you responded and we really appreciate you taking the time to do so – there are lots of interesting things to learn from what you told us.

Here are a few of the headlines:

• The pandemic has affected us all differently – approaching half (47%) of you told us that the pandemic hasn’t affected your finances one way or another, you’re about the same as you were before. And that’s great news.  But unfortunately, around a third (34%) are either a little or a lot worse off than you were.  That leaves a fifth of you (19%) who are at least a little better off thanks to the pandemic.

• When it comes to the credit union, it’s a pandemic of two halves – about half of you (49%) told us that you haven’t used our services any differently than you would have done anyway. But that means that the other half have either borrowed or saved more this year than you have before – about a third of you (34%) told us you used our services, either to borrow or save more or to use the savings you’ve built up before as a result of the pandemic and the other fifth (17.5%) have used our services more to save or borrow but not as a result of the pandemic.

• You’re planning for a brighter future – half of you (53%) told us that you’re planning to borrow in the next year, either for that dream holiday, to improve your home or to consolidate debt as well as covering the costs of big events like birthdays and Christmas. And the vast majority of you (85%) plan to either continue saving as you are (41%) or to increase how much you currently save (44%) – perhaps the pandemic has shown you that you’re able to save more than you thought or the value of having that rainy day fund has been brought home by the year’s events.

Overall, we were really pleased with all the feedback we received.  It’s great to have been able to help so many of you to cope with the pandemic and there are plenty of great suggestions in there about how we can go further to help you out – which is all we exist to do.

Whichever way you look at it – and however the pandemic has affected you – The Co-op Credit Union is here to help you borrow safely and affordably and to watch your nest egg grow.