Credit Union Communications

Authors: Olive McCarthy, Mairtín O Fathaigh, Michael Ward, 2001, 78 pages

ISBN: 0 946503 16 8

Price: €7

Not much has been written about communications in credit unions, particularly in the Irish case. This study sets out to examine:

• what communications means for credit unions
• why effective communications are so important to credit unions
• the means by which information flows in credit unions
• the types of problems that can arise
• how these problems can be resolved and
• the uses by credit unions of technology as an aid to the communications process.

A number of themes emerge from the study: the need for individuals and groups in credit unions to have access to a wide range of different types of information; the importance of informal communication in credit unions; the significance of the ‘personal touch’ in credit unions; and the relatively minor role played by communications technology in credit union. The study recognises the need for credit unions to engage in greater training and education in communications, the need for more formal systems of communication to be adopted, the need for greater communication between credit unions and their members, and the need to recognise more fully the potential role technology can play in credit union communications.