does anyone know anything about student loans in a credit union in Ireland? do you have to already have an…?
do you already have to have an account with the credit union or can you just ask for a student loan, I am starting university next september, i live in dublin and want to study in galway but i need to get out a student loan to pay for accomodation and fees.so could i take out a student loan even if i never saved or borrowed from them before?
Each credit union is independent and sets its own guidelines (under the general umbrella of the Irish League of Credit Unions). Not like a bank, where you can have an account in one branch and do your transactions from another branch.
The general picture is you save with them for a certain period of time – say 12 weeks – then you can apply for a loan. The amount is determined by your ability to repay – evidenced by the amount you were able to save regularly without difficulty.
For Galway, you have two options – go there now and open an account, and arrange regular savings by standing order from your usual bank account. Or open a credit union account where you are living now, and start saving straight away. Get the loan in September and arrange repayments to come from your bank account by standing order.
Or start a savings account in your own bank now. Put in Christmas and birthday money presents, plus whatever you can save from pocket money, part-time jobs etc. It will earn interest, and by September you might have enough amassed not to need the loan at all. So you wouldn’t have repayments like a millstone around your neck. Now, there’s a happy thought !!
