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| Founded | 1984 (1967) |
|---|---|
| Type | Industrial and Provident Society |
| Location |
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| Website | abcul.org |
TheAssociation of British Credit Unions Limited, commonly known asABCUL, is the leading trade association forcredit unions inGreat Britain.
ABCUL represents around 70% of credit unions who in turn provide services to 85% of the British credit union membership.[1] TheIrish League of Credit Unions organises inNorthern Ireland on an all-island basis.[2] Both ABCUL and ILCU are members of the European Network of Credit Unions andWorld Council of Credit Unions.
In 1967,Hornsey Co-operative Credit Union and other West Indian credit unions formed theCredit Union League of Great Britain, which became the Association of British Credit Unions (ABCUL) in 1984.[3]
Separately, in 1964, Wimbledon Credit Union joined forces with two other credit unions operating fromRoman Catholic churches inHighgate andHove to form the National Federation of Savings and Co-operative Credit Unions; this later became the National Federation of Credit Unions (NATFED). The federation and the league agreed in 1967 to form a single national organisation, but the project never became reality and the federation continued separately until its dissolution in 2000.[4]
In fact, the two bodies came to represent distinct factions within the early movement: ABCUL represented industrial credit unions exclusively, while NATFED affiliates were drawn from community credit unions. Furthermore, whereas ABCUL pursued a growth-orientated strategy of individual member unions achieving critical mass and market share, NATFED placed greater emphasis on self-help and expansion through the proliferation of smaller member unions.[5]
The Ulster Federation of Credit Unions, which grew out of the Northern Ireland Regional Association of the National Federation in 1995, provides an alternative to the Irish League with a distinct Ulster British identity.[6]
In common with its member credit unions, ABCUL is registered under theCo-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014. It is governed by a board of directors who are elected by the members.
The Credit Union Foundation Limited is a registered charity and acompany limited by guarantee with a board of trustees consisting of the directors of ABCUL and independent trustees. As a registered charity, the Foundation's rules allow it to carry out a different but complementary role to that of ABCUL.[7]