Credit union glossary

A member whose position is active: entrance fee and minimum shares paid.

The link between a society and the district union or apex it belongs to.

Annual general meeting, where members receive the accounts and approve distributions.

The highest tier in a movement, whose members are district unions or societies.

The credit committee's assessment of a loan application before a decision.

Payments that were due and not made.

Back-office savings: non-withdrawable deposits that usually back borrowing.

An office of a society that collects for it without having its own books.

The society's registered rules: share price, fees, lending limits and governance.

Deductions from members' pay, remitted by the employer to the society.

What members have in common (workplace, community or association) that makes them eligible to join.

The most share capital any one member may hold.

A group's combined figures with balances between its own members removed.

A group or organisation admitted as a member, acting through signatories.

The committee that appraises and decides loans.

A second-tier union whose members are primary societies.

A share of surplus paid on members' shares.

An account with no transactions for the dormancy period; it keeps earning and nothing is forfeited.

What an affiliate pays its parent union for membership.

A one-off fee paid on joining.

Front-office savings: withdrawable deposits used like a current account.

The society's accounting record, in which every transaction is posted.

A member who secures another member's loan with their own deposits.

A refund of part of the interest members paid on loans, declared at year-end.

How many times a member's qualifying deposits they may borrow.

A rule that one officer proposes and another approves.

The member's chosen beneficiary for their savings if they die.

The share of the loan book with payments overdue beyond a number of days.

Surplus money a society deposits with its parent union.

Savings that can be used as security for a loan.

A safe copy of the dashboard with a sample society and no real money.

A credit union whose members are individuals.

Limits on capital, liquidity and lending that keep a society safe.

Lending from a parent union to a society for it to on-lend.

Members' shares, which give ownership and a vote.

The part of surplus the law or bye-laws require to be kept before any distribution.

The committee that oversees the society's books and officers; it can see everything and change nothing.

Money received that can't yet be matched to a member; it isn't the society's money.