LONDON—Lloyds Banking Group has pledged £1 million to 11 credit unions in the U.K. Lloyds said that over a three-year period the investment should enable the credit union sector to lend an additional £20 million to their members.
The awards are selected by an independent grants committee in partnership with the Credit Union Foundation.
“Credit unions play a crucial role in helping people access finance in a safe and responsible way, and helping credit unions to expand their reach by more than £20 million is fundamental to our public commitment to help Britain prosper,” said Robin Bulloch, managing director of Lloyds Bank. :This support means that more consumers who need small loans after Christmas have another lending option available to them."
Liz Barclay, independent trustee of the Credit Union Foundation and chair of the Fund Grants Committee, added, “For the second year running, we have had a fantastic response to the scheme with applications from many credit unions looking to expand their services and serve more of their local communities. The capital awards are a long-term investment in the core funding of credit unions and will help more people to access the financial services they need in their community.”
The award is built principally of large scale grants of between £50,000 and £100,000 and a smaller number of seed funding awards of between £10,000 and £20,000.
A total of 11 credit unions will receive large awards, with another ten receiving seed funding awards to help make the changes they need to apply for a large award in a subsequent year or to pay for the costs of merger.