London’s credit unions came together at City Hall this week to meet Howard Dawber OBE, the Deputy Mayor for Business and Growth. They discussed how closer collaboration could benefit Londoners. London Mutual, the capital’s largest community credit union, was represented by our Head of Business Development, Ben West, alongside counterparts from other London credit unions.
Ben was joined by Jon Belshaw of Greenwich & Bexley Credit Union, Mark Plummer of Lewisham Plus Credit Union and Gurminder Singh Bhagrath of London Capital Credit Union.
Payroll partnerships and closer collaboration
The two ideas discussed were ones London Mutual first put to the London Assembly earlier this year. In February, Ben gave evidence to its Economy, Culture and Skills Committee, suggesting that more public sector employers should offer payroll partnerships with credit unions, and that London’s credit unions could benefit from a forum to work together. In March, the Assembly formally asked the Mayor to act on both. This meeting took those ideas forward.
Employers were central to the discussion. London Mutual already runs payroll partnerships with Transport for London and the Greater London Authority, so staff can save straight from their salary. The group looked at how the Mayor’s Good Work Standard could encourage more employers to do the same.
Who London’s credit unions are for
The people who benefit most are still those on the lowest incomes, who face the steepest rates elsewhere. But in London the pressure reaches a long way up the income scale. Our Social Impact Report found that the rising cost of bills has hit households at every income level, and one in five of our borrowers earns over £50,000 a year. Behind the figures are NHS staff consolidating credit card debt, graduates who have lived in their overdraft since university, and service personnel saving for a first home. They are in work and under pressure, which is exactly why payroll partnerships matter: they put affordable credit and saving within reach of people across the pay scale, straight from the salary they earn.
That case rests on results. Last year our lending saved members £2.15 million in interest they would otherwise have paid costlier lenders, around £41,000 a week. Almost all built savings alongside their loan.
Momentum from City Hall to Westminster
Writing on Linkedin following the meeting, Howard Dawber said: “We have pledged to grow the credit union model in our city, partly by encouraging employers in both the public and private sector to offer a payroll savings system which allows people to save a few pounds each month straight out of their salary.”
He added that London’s credit unions are now coming together to offer services, share expertise across the sector, and reach more people, helped by reforms making their way through Parliament.
In March, the government announced the biggest reform to credit union rules in a generation. The current rules cap how many people a local credit union can take on, which in a city the size of London means turning eligible people away. Raising that cap from three million to ten million would remove the barrier, so more Londoners could join.
What comes next
Ben West said: “London’s credit unions are being taken seriously at the highest level, and rightly so. There is a lot the sector could do together, and we’re keen to explore it.”
The meeting forms part of the Mayor of London and London Councils’ Growth Plan. There is real goodwill behind credit unions in London, and the task now is to put it into action for Londoners. For London Mutual, that starts with affordable credit in more workplaces across the capital.
