The UK Government Work and Pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith has, reportedly, urged the middle-class borrowers and savers in the country to join credit unions to obtain a mortgage or bank account.
The move by the Cabinet minister comes a month after he joined the London Mutual Credit Union.
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Smith was quoted by The Telegraph UK as saying that credit unions can offer some of the best rates on the market for loans and dividends for savings.
"But saving with a credit union can provide more than a financial return, as you will be investing in your local community.
"While credit unions help many people on low incomes to build savings and access affordable loans, their services are open to all. I’d encourage everyone to look at the accounts credit unions have on offer," Smith added.
With an investment plan of £38m in the next two years in the union network by the Department of Work and Pensions, the credit unions are expecting to add 20% more members in 2014, compared with 8% a year on average since 2004.
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