Newport Credit Union

Good:
Low interest rates, low monthly payments, no credit checks, no extra charges or hidden fees

Bad:
Must save regularly with them for 13 weeks before you can apply for a loan

Verdict:
This is a very transparent and affordable loan, if you are not in a rush for your money - must be living or working within the City of Newport

You must be living or working within the City of Newport to become a member.

Credit Unions offer a few different unsecured loans for any purpose. Their loans are considerably cheap and are based on your proven ability to repay, this is why they do a thorough check of your income and expenditures. You need to be a member and you can apply for a loan after saving with them for 3 months or 13 consecutive weeks.

They only currently offer the "Save as you Borrow" Loan. You have to have saved with them to apply for this loan, after this time you can apply for up to twice the amount of your savings. The interest rates are between 12.8% and 26.8%. Your first loan also needs to be repaid within 12 months.

After your first loan has been paid off successfully , members can then borrow up to three times the value of their savings, provided shares are not tied to a current loan.

First you will need to become a member of the union. To apply for a loan, you need to complete the Loan Application Form (see example below), which you can get from their office, from a collection point or you can download it from their website. You can then send it off to the office or collection point. All loans are reviewed by the Loan Officer. They will inform you of their decision as soon as possible and you will be asked to sign a Loan Agreement.

The process may in some cases take up to two weeks so this is not a good option for you if you need your money quickly. You cannot manage your loan online so if you need to make changes, you need to contact them or go into a branch. With credit unions, the money you are borrowing is the money of other members, so if you fail to make payments, they take this very seriously. Their opening hours are very limited, which makes it difficult for you to go in to organise all your documents and sign your agreement. On the other hand, they want to help you rebuild your finances if you haven't got a good history. Their rates are extremely low and their repayments are really small each month.

Bettws
Tuesday: 9:00am-1:00pm
Saturday: 10:00am-1:00pm

Maesglas
Thursday: 10:00am-12:00pm

Ringland
Tuesday: 10:00am-12:00pm

Gaer
Tuesday: 10:00am-12:00pm

Head Office Newport
Monday-Friday: 10:00am-2:00pm

Rogerstone
Tuesday: 10:00am-12:00pm

Pilgwenlly
Thursday: 2:00pm-4:00pm