On Tuesday 30 September, CUNA Mutual took a seat at the Respublica roundtable ‘Banking for the Many’ at the Conservative Party Conference.
Led by Philip Blond, from the lobbying group, the event centered on change and evolution within the financial services industry – showing growth and greater customer demand in the Mutual sector.
Speaking at the roundtable, our CEO Paul Walsh discussed how customer choice is one of the key drivers for those moving from traditional banking products to the Mutual sector.
Mutuals differ from most other financial institutions in the way they are more democratic, one member one vote, their closeness with customers has a greater appeal to many.
Credit Unions in the US have seen their strongest surge in membership growth in the last three years and with a corresponding strong growth in lending – all signs are pointing to strong healthy and competitive market that customers are opting for.
While Mutuals here in the UK are providing customers with options and choice at the moment the UK Market shares are smaller than the rest of Europe. This makes innovative initiatives like The Family Building Society’s new protected mortgage vitally important in offering customers what they need in terms of product design, service and competitiveness.
The new Protected Mortgage is a game-changer in the lending sector. It goes far beyond the traditional view of mortgage design and thinks through how borrowers and their families work together to create financial security. It is one of the most relevant and well-engineered products we’ve seen in the mortgage industry, to date.
Encouraging and fostering the growth of a vibrant mutual or co-operative sector is good for competition, good for consumers and it’s good for a strong free market system.
Our Payment Waiver, which is already live with Credit Unions across the UK, kicks in when borrowers face an unexpected period of loss of income.