Members support Charleville extension
9 November, 2017
The 54th Annual General Meeting of Mallow Credit Union Ltd (Mallow) held its on the 3rd of November 2017 at a packed Springfort Hall in Mallow, Co Cork.
During this meeting the Board expressed its sadness at the recent appointment of a provisional liquidator to its neighbouring credit union in Charleville. Having considered the matter carefully, the Board were of the opinion that it was incumbent upon them to offer a full credit union financial service to the people who reside or are employed in the common bond area of Charleville.
Members were asked to vote to extend to common bond to include Charleville & its surrounding parishes within a 4 mile radius to enable Mallow Credit Union to open a branch in the town.
After a lengthy and engaging discussion, the motion to extend the bond was approved by an overwhelming majority of members present.
Having had the successful experience of merging with three other like-minded credit unions in 2016, Mallow currently operates a seven branch network across our enlarged community, where in excess of 30,000 active members avail of our services. By achieving this, not only have we demonstrated our capabilities to operate a multi branch financial co-operative, but we have also been true to our ethos of providing financial services to all areas and members of our community, which is particularly important where no other financial institutions operate.
Mallow had made a preliminary application to the Central Bank of Ireland (CBOI) for permission to extend its common bond to cover the Charleville area and this had been approved. The next step in this process was to seek approval from the membership at the Annual General Meeting.
As well as this positive community development, the Chairman, Mr. David Browne, also reported that this was the first full financial year since our merger in August 2016 and he was happy to confirm that it had been a most successful year of consolidation and growth.
Mallow had met and exceeded all it targets with regard to its provision of reserves and has in place a reserve total of €24.1m, which is the equivalent of 15% of its total assets.
Having provided for these reserves the Board of Directors (Board) recommended a return of 0.20% as a dividend on shares to its members which is at the higher end of returns for similar type of on-demand deposit accounts. In addition the Board also recommended a 5% loan interest rebate to its borrowing members thereby further reducing the overall cost of borrowing to this important section of our membership and both were approved.
The Chairman thanked those in attendance for their support and for the confidence that they had placed in their Board. He confirmed that as soon as formal CBOI approval of the common bond extension is received, Mallow will proceed to open up its newest branch in Charleville without delay.
Anyone working or residing in the new common bond area is invited to join Mallow Credit Union Ltd. in any one of the 7 current branches and will be offered full services in Charleville as soon as the branch is open. Visit our Become a Member page for information on how best to join.
