Affordable Borrowing& Saving

What is Circle Housing Money?

• Circle Housing Money (CH Money) is our partnership between Circle Housing and Leeds City Credit Union (LCCU)

• It supports the delivery of a consistent package of affordable financial services, including savings accounts, affordable loans and alternative banking products, to customers and colleagues, no matter where they live

• Available to Circle Housing customers, Centra Care and Support customers and Circle Housing (and Centra) colleagues

• Supports Circle’s mission of enhancing life chances – support customers to live independently and be more financially resilient.

What does a financially resilient and independent customer look like?

Confident managing money

(confidence, knowledge, skills, motivation, ability to make informed

choices)Less stressed about financial

situation or money issues

More able to deal with financial shocks

Able to meet outgoings(Including

rent)

Able to meet aims & aspirations – life

chances(eg support back to

work, skills, education, health)

1,300Circle customers

have incurred a bank charge in last 12

months

57%Circle customers who prefer to use cash to

pay for things

63%Circle customers say they don’t know how they would cope with

less money30%Circle customers say thinking about their

finances keeps them awake at night

4%Circle customers are

without a bank account

38%Circle customers save

regularly

34%Circle customer

borrowing in last 12 months came from high

cost credit sector

35%Circle customers have incurred a bank charge

in last 12 months

30,762People sought help with payday loans between

Jan – June 2013, nearly the same

amount as for the whole of 2012 (StepChange)

What products does CH Money offer?

Savings Accounts

•Membership Account•Christmas Club •Regular Saver•Loyalty Saver•Young Saver

Transactional Banking Products

•Current Account•Bill Paying Account•Pre-paid Card

Affordable Loans

•Affordable and Responsible Loans

Savings Accounts

CH Money savings accounts are designed to help customers save little and often. Here are some examples of the most popular:

Membership Account

•Basic entry level, instant access savings account , which every adult member gets

•£5 automatically gets deposited into this account on joining

•To use the Membership account members need to save £13 per month if they earn a wage, or £5 per month if they are unemployed

Savings (cont)

Christmas Club Account

•Lets you save as much or as little as you want throughout the year

•Customers can save from January to October and get access to their money on 1st November

Regular Saver Account

•A savings account for people who want to put a bit of money aside regularly

•Customers can make up to six withdrawals per year

•Customers need to have at least £20 to open an account and must be able to put in at least £5 per month

Flexible Banking

There are flexible accounts for customers to receive money or pay the bills

Current Account

•Will receive income from wages, pensions or benefits e.g UC payments

•Customers can withdraw cash from ATM’s and can upgrade to a debit card after 3 months

•Quarterly statements and customers can keep track of their money online

•Transparent banking so we are clear about monthly fee and small charges that apply to this account:

Flexible Banking (cont)

Bill Paying Account

This is an excellent budgeting tool for customers who want help with managing their money when they move onto Universal Credit :

•Customers pay in a fixed monthly amount to cover the cost of agreed bills like rent and then they are paid for them to make budgeting easier

•Bills can be set up to be paid either weekly or monthly

•£2 monthly fee and 5% is added in case any bills go up unexpectedly

Transactional Banking (3)

Pre-paid Card

Pre-paid card is a flexible and safe way to help customers manage their

money:

•Allows you to withdraw cash from ATMs or buy things in shops or online and get cashback

•Customers choose how much to load onto the card

Customers can check their balance by phone, text or online

•No overdraft facility so there are no charges for going overdrawn

• There are small charges that apply to this account

Affordable Loans

Affordable and Responsible Loans

You can apply for a loan once you a member of Circle Housing Money.  The amount customers can borrow will be based on how much they can afford to repay, from £100 to £15,000. As a credit union, interest rates are capped at a maximum of 42.6% APR, each loan is assessed on individual merit and appropriate interest rate applied.

The  interest on loans  is calculated on a daily basis so as you pay back the money, the extra you have to pay goes down too. And there's no extra charge if customers decide to pay back the loan earlier than expected.

 

We are keen to use this moment of change to talk positively about Circle Housing Money and how it can support current money challenges

Offering membership, small loans to cover settling in & household appliances and budgeting accounts & encouraging saving where possible

Partnership in place between LCCU and Coop Electrical offering discounted new white goods and other household appliances

New Tenants Package

What CH Money can offer customers

Lesley, a CH Roddons resident currently works part time in the hospitality and catering industry .She joined Circle Housing Money earlier this year and is using a savings account to put money aside to buy a new motor bike which she believes will help her move forward in her career. ‘Living in East Anglia is lovely, but public transport leaves a lot to be desired . Sometimes the buses don’t arrive until 9.30am. Owning my bike will mean I’m not reliant on public transport and can look further afield for work, so if I need to start work early it won’t be a problem.’

Her target is save up £1000 and is putting £20 away per month to achieve her goal.

Making a difference

Since the launch of CH Money in November 2014:

•£173,632 has been deposited in savings

•Over £62,882 has been provided in affordable credit to customers, representing a net saving of £39,868 on loans, compared to the average cost of a payday lender

•We are on track to hit our first year target of 1,000 active members and continue to add both colleague and customer members each month

•When members put money into savings, both colleagues and customers can borrow at affordable rates

Any Questions?