Press
Alexander Sloan marks International Credit Union Day by launching new Credit Union Risk Evaluation software
(October 16, 2014) — A high-value, low-cost risk management software package for credit unions which makes assessing degrees of risk significantly more straightforward, has been launched to mark International Credit Union Day, Thursday 16th October, by chartered accountants and business advisers, Alexander Sloan.
Steven Cunningham, a partner in Alexander Sloan, who specialises in the credit union sector, has spent the last year developing the easy-to-use software package which is known as Credit Union Risk Evaluation (CURE)
He said: “The software package lets credit unions document their appetite for risk and measure their performance against that appetite.
“We already have a CURE package operating successfully with a Scotland-based credit union and we intend to launch the software nationally to make it available to all of the UK’s credit unions.
“We think it is appropriate to launch it formally today since this is a special day for the credit union movement worldwide.
“One of the most useful things about the package is that it can take the credit union’s risk register and help it to focus on the key risks and controls that require to be reviewed.”
“We intend to provide regular updates and refinements to the CURE package and we are hopeful that it might become the standard risk toolkit for the credit union movement in the UK”, said Mr. Cunningham.
The CURE software is available on Alexander Sloan credit union site www.creditunionupdate.com to download as a free 10 day trial.
The full package is available for £950 plus VAT.
In Ireland 73 per cent and the US and Canada, over 40 per cent of their respective populations are credit union members. In the UK as a whole, 5%, or one in 20 people, are in a credit union.
From the movement’s roots in 19th century Germany and influenced by the Rochdale Pioneers and social visionaries such as New Lanark’s Robert Owen, credit unions have transformed communities and helped hundreds of thousands of people, and not just those of limited financial means.
The usefulness of credit unions in helping people access the mainstream is recognised by policy makers. The Association of British Credit Unions (ABCUL) recently won a £35.6m contract from Department of Work and Pensions to expand and modernise the movement in the UK, with aims which include increasing membership by a million by 2019 and saving consumers up to £1bn in interest payments.