These Terms and Conditions relate to the Membership Account, sometimes called ‘general savings’ or ‘share account’, referred to on statements as ‘S1’ (hereafter called ‘Membership Account’) offered by North London Credit Union Limited (NLCU). They should be read with the Membership Terms and Conditions and Rules.

 Introduction

1. Credit unions work by lending the money that members are saving with us. The interest that we charge on loans pays our running costs and the cost of making loans available.
2. Credit unions are owned by their members and any surplus made by the end of the year is distributed to savers.
3. The Membership Account is the foundation of your NLCU membership, which all members must open and which must have a minimum balance of £5 at all times.

 Opening the Account

4. A Membership Account is opened for all new members of North London Credit Union aged 18 or over.
5. The first £5 of any deposit made will be used to fund your Membership Account.
6. Information on our membership criteria can be found on our website.

 Paying into Your Account

7. We accept regular savings deposits by direct debit, standing order, payroll deduction (through selected partner employers) and via your Engage pre-paid card account.
8. You can also make occasional or ad-hoc payments through bank transfer.
9. Deposits may be subject to Money Laundering Verification.
10. We will accept cheques or postal orders (made payable to North London Credit Union), but if they fail to clear the bank charges imposed on NLCU will be passed on to the account-holder.
11. We do not accept cash payments in the office, or over-the-counter, for example at banks, building societies or the Post Office. You will be responsible for any fees incurred as a result of making a cash deposit (usually 3% of the amount deposited).
12. You are responsible for ensuring that your deposits are identifiable to us. Your unique reference will be your NLCU membership number, followed by the first three letters of your surname, e.g. 1234/SMI. Without this reference it is not possible for us to identify who has made the deposit.
13. Should we not be able to identify who has made a deposit, it will be put in a holding account until we are able to allocate it to the correct membership account. We cannot be held accountable for any losses as a result.

 Maximum Balances

14. The maximum that NLCU can hold in deposits for a member is £15,000 in total, across all accounts (there are special rules applying to holders of our Cash ISA account, please refer to the Cash ISA Terms and Conditions).
15. This limit does not affect any Junior Savers accounts which you control.

 Returns (or ‘Dividends’)

16. Depending on financial performance during the credit union year (1st October to 30th September), NLCU may pay a share of their profits to members, in the form of a dividend.
17. Dividends can only be calculated and paid when they have been approved at NLCU’s Annual General Meeting (AGM), which takes place after the external audit of the accounts.
18. The dividend will be recommended by the Board of Directors and put to the vote by members at the AGM.
19. Dividends cannot be guaranteed. They are always subject to NLCU’s performance in the year and its subsequent ability to comply with all statutory requirements.
20. Any dividend will be paid gross of tax, on all sums deposited. NLCU is not  responsible  for  tax  declarations  and  does  not  give  advice  on  tax  due  on dividends. Please contact HMRC for advice.
21. Any dividend due will be paid within five working days of the AGM.
22. Any dividend payable may be freely withdrawn by the member (subject to 25).
23. Accounts closed  after  the financial  year  end  (30th  September  onwards), but  before  the  dividend  is  credited,  will  forfeit  the right to any dividend due. Members who close their account during the financial year also forfeit the right to any dividend due.
24. Dividends can only be paid into active members accounts.
25. A dividend will not be paid to a member whose loan with the Credit Union is in arrears. In such a case the dividend will be used to reduce the loan.

 Withdrawals, Transfers and Account Closures

26. Savings are available for withdrawal without notice, subject to our fair usage and the terms below.
27. Funds may not be drawn until they have cleared, as follows:

Cheques: please allow up to eight working days for cheques to clear.

Direct debits, standing orders and bank transfers: these will be credited to your account one to two working days from the date of deposit.

Payroll Deduction: funds received will be credited to accounts as soon as we are in receipt of both the funds and the list of confirmed deductions from employers (this is usually a few days after your salary is paid).

28. We strongly encourage members to save easily affordable amounts.
29. As part of this we have a ‘fair usage’ policy that applies to withdrawals. Up to four withdrawals from your savings can be made per calendar year without penalty, by way of bank transfer.
30. Additional withdrawals during the year will incur a charge per transaction. This will be applied at the point of withdrawal.
31. Withdrawals may be requested by email, post or by attending the office and completing a withdrawal form. Withdrawals are processed at the same time regardless of how the instruction was received.
32. Withdrawal requests made before 4pm on a working day are usually processed that day, between 4pm and 5pm. They are processed by Faster Payment, reaching your account within two hours, depending on your bank.
33. Unless we have signed instructions to the contrary, savings will be paid into the account from which your direct debit is taken.
34. If your payments are made by standing order or payroll deduction, we may need you to complete and sign a withdrawal form the first time that you make a withdrawal.
35. All withdrawals may be subject to additional anti-fraud checks.
36. You may close your account without notice. All money will be transferred into the account which we hold for you on file unless we receive alternative signed instructions.
37. Where the account to be closed contains over £1000, we will process the closure request on receipt of a signed Account Closure Form, which can be sent on request.

 General

38. Statements for your NLCU accounts are issued annually, following the confirmation and application of any dividend. Additional statements can be requested at any time. There may be a small charge to cover the cost of additional postal statements.
39. In certain circumstances we have the right to require up to 30 days’ notice for withdrawals from any of your accounts. We will usually only require 30 days’ notice in order to protect the interests of all members of the credit union; in response to extreme market conditions; or if required to do so by the Prudential Regulation Authority (or any successor regulatory authority).
40. A member of NLCU aged 18 years or over can receive a copy of the annual Report and Accounts on request and will invited to attend the AGM as a voting member.
41. If you wish to make a complaint about this account or NLCU, you should address it to: The Complaints Officer, North London Credit Union, 3 George Mews, Enfield, Middlesex, EN2 6JA. Complaints can be made in person, by post, or by email. A copy of our Complaints Procedure can be sent on request.
42. We are a member of the Financial Ombudsman Service and all deposits of members are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (see below).
43. For more information about NLCU’s Membership Account or any of the other products, please visit our website (northlondoncreditunion.org), contact us on 020 8366 8244 or email info@northlondoncu.org.

 Use of your information

44. More information on what information we hold and how we use and store it can be found in our Privacy Policy on our website or provided on request.

 Changes in Terms and Conditions

45. We reserve the right to adapt or amend these Terms and Conditions at any time.

 Statutory Details

North London Credit Union Limited trades from its registered office at 3 George Mews, Enfield, Middlesex, EN2 6JA.

Its telephone number is 020 8366 8244, and its email address for general correspondence and enquiries is info@northlondoncu.org.

North London Credit Union is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority, registration 213809.

North London Credit Union is approved by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) as a provider of Cash Individual Savings Accounts, under the reference Z1743.

North London Credit Union is covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). The FSCS will pay compensation to depositors if a credit union is unable to meet its financial obligations. Most depositors –including most individuals and small businesses – are covered by the scheme.

In respect of deposits, an eligible depositor is entitled to claim up to £85,000. For joint accounts, each account holder is treated as having a claim in respect of their share so, for a joint account held by two eligible depositors, the maximum amount that could be claimed would be £85,000 each (making a total of £170,000). The £85,000 limit relates to the combined amount in all the eligible depositor’s accounts with the credit union, including their share of any joint account, and not to each separate account.

For further information about the scheme (including the amounts covered and eligibility to claim), please refer to the FSCS through their website (www.fscs.org.uk) or call them on 0800 678 1100.