There’s pretty much no end to the number of reasons why you might need to take out a loan. A holiday in the sun, a new car or a revamped kitchen are amongst the more pleasant options, although, here at PCCU, we understand that people sometimes need to take out a loan to temporarily cover day to day living, or to consolidate existing loans. The good news is that borrowing money becomes simpler, more affordable and less stressful when you take out ethical loans.

Here at PCCU we only deal in ethical loans because we are a credit union based in the community and committed to helping that wider community and the individual account holders we lend to. You might be asking what we mean when we talk about ethical loans, and the answer is based on the fact that we’re a not-for-profit organisation. Unlike many other lenders we don’t have external  shareholders to satisfy, or bonuses to be paid, so we can offer our ethical loans at affordable interest rates calculated with the interests of our account holders  at heart. In fact, there’s a legal limit to the amount of interest a credit union can charge, so if you borrow from us, you always know exactly how much you’re going to pay.

That also applies to the interest rate we advertise. With many other lenders the advertised interest rate isn’t always the rate borrowers end up paying. Indeed, when lenders advertise representative interest rates only 51% of the people borrowing money may actually have to pay the rate of interest that’s been advertised. Bearing this in mind, it’s always sensible to not just look at the interest rate mentioned, but to consider the actual amount you’ll have to pay back.

The last point brings us to another advantage of ethical loans, which is that you’ll always know exactly what you’re going to be paying back. When you take out ethical loans from PCCU you deal with a person, not a faceless call centre or computer. We’ll explain exactly how much your regular repayments will be, and how much you’ll pay back in total, including the amount which is actually made up of interest.

Although ethical loans are really advantageous for the individuals borrowing the money, they’re also better for the rest of the community. As a not-for-profit organisation, any surplus money we have is ploughed back into the community, so taking out ethical loans helps to make the place in which you live a better place at the same time as helping your individual circumstances.  Ethical loans with PCCU also come with the added benefit of a life insurance policy on savings and loans at PCCU, offered free of charge, which provides peace of mind in the event of a death. Account holders will either have the rest of their loan paid back, or will receive a lump sum as well as having the loan cleared (subject to rules). Thanks to this, account holders have the security of knowing that, in the event of their death, their family will be shielded from at least some of the financial impact.

No hidden fees, competitive interest rates and straight talking – that’s the ethical loans promise, and it’s the kind of offer we make to all our account holders. If you apply for a loan with us we’ll reach a decision quickly. Provided we have all the information we need we won’t keep you waiting more than two days and, in most cases, we’ll have an answer for you on the same day. Once a successful loan is processed, we’ll make the payment via BACS, and the money will be ready in your bank account for you to make use of.