Credit Unions
...trust your G.U.T. feeling
largest credit union in Grenada and the 2nd largest in terms of assets, with holdings of around 85 million dollars. In 2004, Grenada had 21 different Credit Unions, there are now 12. So far, GUTCCU have absorbed 5 of them. “We have a very active management and all of our committees work hard to make us grow and prosper,” says Britton. Providing some insight as to how (GUTCCU) functions Britton states, “We currently operate on a 1:2 basis for lending without collateral. For every dollar saved with us we can offer 2 dollars. We offer the best rate in Grenada for cd’s and fixed deposits at the moment at 4-6% depending on the amount, and our fixed deposits are for 2 years, whilst some require 3 years.” he continues “We invest a lot in the youth of the nation. We do a financial education course every year for over 400 young people between the ages of 5-15 teaching them about the importance of saving and various money management techniques. We also support the majority of Schools Savings Unions, so we generally invest a lot in the continuity of the CU movement. We are a co-operative and operate with that co-op spirit.” According to Britton, it is this business ethos which has brought the company accolades overseas. “Our delinquency rate is very low. We operate with taking money from source of income, for loan payments, so our delinquency rate has been less than 1% for many many years. Whereas the industry standard is 5%. In fact we are being used as the benchmark for other Caribbean countries. We are very proud of our numbers,” says Britton. So just how much can you borrow from this Credit Union? “There is no limit as such, as long as the business plan is sound. We have lent up to 1.5 million e.c. dollars to one individual. The majority of our members are middle class and tend to borrow larger amounts when it comes to mortgages or house and land build projects. Incidentally, we have only ever had one repossession of a property in our history, and that says everything!” Britton disclosed.
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