Government
Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is backing a proposal to promote employers to sign up to support credit unions with a payroll deduction scheme.
Ms Sturgeon is supporting Fergus Ewing, Minister for Business, Energy and Tourism, who launched Scotland’s Financial Health Service and set up a credit union working group to consider ways to promote and support credit unions in Scotland further.
Encouraging a savings culture via payroll deduction and access to other services such as affordable credit has been identified as a key route not only to building and strengthening Scotland’s credit unions, but also an innovation which can have significant benefits for employers.
There are over 100 credit unions in Scotland with a combined membership of over 375,000.
It is thought that if employers sign up to the deduction scheme will have the following benefits:
Helping staff join a credit union and thereby building credit unions’ capacity to help financially excluded consumers in communities across Scotland is a significant demonstration of a company’s corporate social responsibility.
Establishing a payroll deduction arrangement with a credit union is very simple and bears minimal costs for employers. Many of the largest outsourced payroll providers will provide this service for no additional charge.
Saving via an automated payroll deduction savings arrangement helps people save more and build a buffer to cover unexpected expenses.
The ability to access credit and repay loans in affordable slices direct from payroll helps employees stay away from high cost lenders who may damage their financial wellbeing.