The University of Cape Coast Co-Operative Credit Union Limited has introduced an auto loan scheme (car loan) to support young commercial drivers in the Cape Coast Metropolis to acquire their own vehicles.
Young drivers interested in the initiative must first register as members of the union, possess a valid driver’s license, and make a savings contribution for a minimum of six months to qualify for the loan.
Mr Daniel Arthur Egyir, a Board Member of the Credit Union, said the scheme covered all types of vehicles, including saloon cars, minibuses and tricycles, popularly known as “Pragyia”.
The initiative is intended to create jobs and encourage the culture of savings among the youth.
The car loan was launched at the 28th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Credit Union on Friday.
Mrs Charity Abraham, the Chairperson of the Board of Directors, UCC Co-operative, noted that the union made significant advancement in spite of the economic challenges.
It had adequate capital with an increased return on assets, seeing a significant growth in its liquidity reserve.
Mrs Abraham, also an Observer on the World Council of Credit Unions Board, however, bemoaned the excessive withdrawal of savings by members, which defeated the idea of credit unions.
“Excessive withdrawals have become a canker in recent years affecting credit unions in Ghana,” she said, attributing the situation to the harsh economic climate.
Economic factors such as inflation had made it nearly impossible for people to live on their salaries and, therefore, were forced to fall on their savings, Mrs Abraham said.
“The risk to the credit unions is that if members come for all their savings, it means we wouldn’t have much money to grant loans.”
“And the risk to the members is that they won’t have savings as a backup in times of need because we save against the future.”
She, therefore, encouraged the public to limit the rate at which they withdrew their savings and save for their future.
“The credit unions are doing their best to educate the public about the importance of savings and encourage them to save more,” she said.
“It is a challenge; credit union is for us and so it takes all of us to come together to solve the issue.”
In the case of the UCC Credit Union, she said they were salvaging the situation by the introduction of ‘kiddies and youth savings accounts” to encourage savings among the young, and ‘school fees loans’ to mitigate the economic pressures on families.
The Board Chairperson also announced that technology was being leveraged with the creation of a new digital application to make transactions easy for its members.
Mr Vincent Yamoah, the Manager of the credit union, indicated that they were working to waive the three-day waiting period for loan applications and honour loan requests instantly.
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