Plane Saver Credit Union, a member of the Joining Forces partnership, is delighted to announce the launch of First Defence Finance, a new brand targeting serving Armed Forces personnel, veterans and their families.

As part of the Joining Forces Initiative, which was established in 2015 by the Ministry of Defence to address concerns about rising levels of debt among Armed Forces personnel, First Defence Finance will offer credit union services such as flexible savings and ethical loans to serving personnel, veterans and their family members.

The partnership comprises three credit unions¹, including Plane Saver Credit Union which has already helped 3,000 serving personnel save over £1 million and borrow £9 million since 2015. The Credit Union also launched a special Payday Payoff loan last year to help service personnel pay off high interest rate payday loans. As a Silver Covenant holder, the credit union also donated £5,000 to The Royal British Legion, in December to support of the charity’s life-changing work.

With the launch of First Defence Finance, the credit union aims to help even more members of the Armed Forces increase their financial resilience while making the cost of borrowing more affordable and accessible.

Valerie Walwyn, Plane Saver Credit Union’s Chief Executive Officer, who is also a veteran explained “As Armed Forces Personnel are a growing area of our membership, we thought it only right to represent this group through the launch of our own military brand”.

Ms Walwyn added “The First Defence Finance brand symbolises our ongoing commitment to serve members of the Armed Forces. It is our mission to help those who are financially excluded by simplifying savings and offering ethical loans. The Credit Union won the MoneyAge Ethical Lender of the Year award in 2018. The launch of this new brand allows us to expand our range of products designed specifically for military personnel”.

Noting that the credit union is committed to helping members of the Armed Forces feel more in control of their money, and therefore achieve financial security, Ms Walwyn said “First Defence Finance will be technology driven and a new website www.firstdefencefinance.co.uk will be introduced”.

-----------ENDS----------

FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

Mr Jack Murphy

Marketing & Business Development Officer

Plane Saver Credit Union

jackmurphy@planesaver.co.uk

020 8607 5020

Notes to editor:

• The three credit unions that comprise the Joining Forces partnership are London Mutual Credit Union, Plane Saver Credit Union and Police Credit Union.
• Photo (Logo)

Caption: First Defence Finance launched by Plane Saver Credit Union

In this our third issue of Plane Talk, we are very excited to bring you the latest from Plane Saver Credit Union.

Here's what you can expect in this month's Plane Talk:

- Plane Saver reveals new brand

- Lottery Results

- How to give your child a head start in life

- Updated mobile app makes account management simple

Read Plane Talk Issue 3 here: https://planesavercu.co.uk/uploads/Plane-Talk-April-2019.pdf

Plane Saver CEO, Valerie Walwyn, recently helped Army & You magazine readers to answer their FAQ's about the benefits for Foreign & Commonwealth (F&C) soldiers of saving with a credit union.

In the article titled 'Saving to Soldier', she gives a clear savings path for F&C personnel so they can plan effectively to pay for their Indefinite Leave to Remain.

You can read the full story here: http://armyandyou.co.uk/saving-to-serve/

After the success of our first issue of this new format of newsletter, we are very excited to bring you the latest from Plane Saver Credit Union.

Here's what you can expect in this month's Plane Talk:

- Spring Cleaning your Plane Saver account to help your loved ones

- Lottery Results

- A dream comes true for one of our members

- A status update on our loans & membership progress for 2019

Read Plane Talk Issue 2 here: https://planesavercu.co.uk/uploads/PS_PlaneTalk_March19.pdf

Introducing our monthly news bulletin... Plane Talk.

We are very excited to share this year’s first issue of our brand new bulletin - Plane Talk.

Plane Talk is meant to embody the warmth and camaraderie of the credit union movement, while keeping you updated on topics of interest in a bite-size way. We are reintroducing our newsletter at an exciting time for the credit union.

Plane Saver is being recognised nationally for our work as an ethical lender, we are strengthening our global reach by reaffirming a partnership with one of the world’s largest credit unions and we are getting ready to roll out a range of innovative products and services all designed to make the lives of our members better.

While our previous newsletter Plane Talking has lurked below the radar for some time, we are back, soaring higher than ever and looking forward to taking you on this wonderful journey with us.

Previously, the newsletter was published on a quarterly basis, but to ensure that we keep you well informed of innovations in our sector and tips to help you achieve personal and financial goals, we will be moving to a monthly format.

In addition to these financial tips and news, Plane Talk will be your go-to for member features and our Friends of Plane Saver Lottery results!

To our new readers, welcome!

Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with your feedback.

You can read Issue One of Plane Talk Now.

Happy New Year from Plane Saver Credit Union!

It’s officially the time of year when many people tend to make New Year’s resolutions such as quitting drinking or smoking, losing weight or even running a marathon!

Why not make a change this year and give yourself some financial goals in 2019.

After all, when it comes to your finances, it’s a marathon not a sprint and we’re here to help you get your finances in shape beginning this year.

Whether your goal is focusing on building your nest egg for rainy days, or clearing the debt you’ve accumulated over the years, your credit union can help you. Our team are ready to help you improve your financial security in 2019.

We’ve put together a selection of our member’s biggest goals and resolutions for 2019, and have shared how we can help with each of them:

1. Getting married or looking to pop the question

With the average wedding now costing £30,355*, and Christmas engagements becoming more and more popular. Our members are turning to us for help with their big day. You can either save to finance this special day or take out an affordable loans or why not do a bit of both! No matter how big or small your plans are, we will work with you to make your big day a huge success.

2. Clearing existing debt

If you had a challenging year in 2018, and needed to borrow from multiple lenders, we could help make your repayments simple and cheaper with our Debt Consolidation Loan. You can consolidate existing debts and take back control of your finances in 2019.

If you took out a payday loan and are still repaying, please contact us as we can offer an ethical alternative to payday loans. We can also pay off your payday loan directly to the provider and put you on an affordable loan.

3. Purchasing your first home

Coming up with the deposit payment is probably the biggest challenge faced when buying a new home. This is why we provide our Help-to-Buy loan at a preferential rate to help you purchase your home. These loans can be used to top up your deposit, so if you need to get a larger deposit for your dream home – this could be the right choice for you.

4. Finally start a savings habit

We know that life and unexpected costs can sometimes get in the way of saving as much as you would like, but why not get into the habit of saving more so that you can be prepared for those unexpected costs and for the more expensive things in life such as a dream holiday or a new car. Your saving contribution can come straight from your pay or via standing order so you won’t even miss it and you’ll be able to watch your nest egg grow.

5. Renovating your home

Whether you’re looking to extend in order to accommodate your growing family, or just sprucing your home up, we can help with that! We can lend up to £25,000 to help you achieve your goal. The good news is, if you renovate your home, you’re likely to see a change in your home valuation, so consider this as an investment!

6. Buying a new car

If your current car is costing you more than you’d like for repairs through wear and tear, it may be cheaper for you to sell it and put that money towards a new car. You can then use your savings to purchase a car that suits you and your family, alternatively we do offer loans to help with car purchases.

7. Save for your children’s future

Whether you’ve not yet managed to set-up a saving account for your children or perhaps you’ve recently had your first, why not start saving for their future now. With our Junior Saver account, you can save straight from your pay from just £5 per month.

8. Give yourself a treat of a holiday

With the average family holiday costing £2,417*, we appreciate that it can be a challenge to save the money you need to get away every year. If you were to start saving now, for next year, you would need to save £201 a month. If that’s your goal, and you need some help closer to booking, why not ask us to help with our Holiday Loan. The funds could be in your account, so you can focus on booking the holiday of your dreams.

No matter what your goals are, your credit union could help you with one of our savings or loan products. At Plane Saver, our goals for 2019 is to continue to help our members improve their finances to make sure they and their family have the life they desire.

We welcome our members to share how they progress with their goals throughout the year.

Let’s make 2019 a great year!

References:

Average Wedding Cost

Average Family Holiday

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from all of the team at Plane Saver.

As the Festive season edges closer, here are our opening hours:

Christmas Eve - 08:30am - 12:30pm

Christmas Day - CLOSED

Boxing Day - CLOSED

27th December - 08:30am - 16:00pm

28th December - 08:30am - 16:00pm

New Year's Eve - 08:30am - 12:30pm

New Year's Day - CLOSED

2nd January - BUSINESS AS USUAL

To commemorate our 25^th Anniversary, Friends of Plane Saver (the charity that administers the members lottery for PSCU) donated £10,000 to Dreamflight & The Royal British Legion. The donations of £5,000 each were presented at our Annual General Meeting which was held on Friday 7^th December at the Victory Services Club in Marble Arch.

Grantley Yearwood, Chair of Friends of Plane Saver, told us why they chose to contribute to these incredibly worthy organisations. Grantley said “we selected Dreamflight, as it is a charity that supports children who are seriously ill or disabled by giving them the opportunity of a lifetime trip to Disneyland. Dreamflight also help with medical and respite support.”

Grantley added, “PSCU’s work with Service Personnel and their families is well known. The Credit Union was recently awarded the Armed Forces Silver Covenant in recognition of its outstanding achievements.

It was therefore fitting that on the Centenary of World War 1, we contributed to The Royal British Legion in recognition of the contribution they make to our veterans and those currently serving. This donation is the very least we can do for those who have risked their lives for us all and continue to do so to this day.”

Lisa Bishop, Fundraising & Communications Manager at Dreamflight said “We are hugely grateful for the support from the Friends of Plane Saver for next year’s Dreamflight. We do not get any Government funding, so have to rely on our generous supporters/donors each year. As a small charity we are hugely grateful to the Directors and Members of the Plane Saver Credit Union for this fabulous donation”.

Antony Baines, Director of Operations for the Royal British Legion, said “The Royal British Legion answered over 180,000 calls for support and assistance from the Armed Forces Community last year, we provide direct services, supporting veterans and their families with housing and homelessness issues, financial difficulties, living independently at home, mental and physical difficulties and care in later life.

Without the generosity of our supporters we could not continue to provide the life changing support for our veterans and their families at their time of need and I would like to thank Plane Saver Credit Union on behalf of the Royal British Legion for the very generous donation during this momentous year commemorating the centenary of the end of The Great War. Donations are the life blood of The Royal British Legion, ensuring we continue to recognise and remember those that gave their lives in Service and support those in modern life. Again, our enormous thanks for your commitment and generous donation to our charity.”

Editors Notes

Dreamflight is a UK charity that changes young lives through taking children with a serious illness or disability, without their parents, on the holiday of a lifetime to Orlando, Florida.

Established in 1987 and operating annually since, Dreamflight believes that fun and joy are just as important as medical research and equipment - especially for children who perhaps can't wait long enough for the breakthrough they need or whose illnesses and treatments have brought pain, distress and disruption to their lives.

Find out more about Dreamflight here: https://www.dreamflight.org/

The Royal British Legion was founded by veterans after the First World War. A century on from the start of that conflict, we're still helping today's Service men and women, veterans, and their families in almost every aspect of daily life. We also champion Remembrance, safeguarding the memory of those who have given their lives for our freedom through Remembrance education and events.

Find out more about The Royal British Legion here: https://www.britishlegion.org.uk/

Plane Saver was founded in 1993 by a group of British Airways Engineers. Their vision was to establish an ethical alternative to other financial providers, providing a facility for members to save and borrow with repayments straight from their pay. Plane Saver now serves over 12,500 members and is one of the largest not-for-profit financial co-operatives in the UK. We provide a service to the employees some of the world’s leading Airlines and HM Armed Forces.

Find out more about Plane Saver Credit Union here: https://planesavercu.co.uk

Our Annual Report for 2017/18 is available to members on request.

To review the minutes from the 2016/17 Annual General Meeting, please click the link below. Approval of these minutes will be requested at this years AGM.

2016/17 AGM Minutes

Credit Union Offers Military personnel payday loan payoff facility

Military personnel with Wonga loans are being offered a ‘payday payoff’ loan facility from Plane Saver Credit Union* following the collapse of payday lender Wonga, who went into administration last week.

The facility has been provided to support serving military personnel,* who may be affected by the withdrawal of the payday lender from the marketplace. The credit union offer is significantly better than Wonga’s as interest rates will range between 3.4% - 26.8% and could save some individuals as much as £500.00 in interest payments.

Plane Saver CEO, Valerie Walwyn, who is also an Army Veteran says: When I heard about Wonga going into administration & the Archbishop of Canterbury’s concerns, my attention immediately went to our military personnel who may have previously taken out Wonga loans. We want to help them avoid any potential interest rates increases and are inviting anyone with a Wonga loan to get in touch, so we can look to repay their loan and offer them our favourable interest rate loan offer.

Ms Walwyn also added “We will also assist with consolidating any other payday or high interest rate loans. Over the years we have been developing products to assist military personnel and recently launched the Flexi Credit Facility to offer a cheaper and more flexible alternative to expensive payday loans, which runs alongside a savings account, in an aim to help combat excessive payday borrowing by our military members.”

Anyone who is a member of the Armed Services or working in the Airline Industry with a Wonga loan and is interested in this special offer should contact the credit union immediately. They can also visit: https://planesavercu.co.uk/loans/payday-payoff

*Terms and conditions apply

The Plane Saver Annual Report 2016-2017 is now available to view via: https://planesavercu.co.uk/fil...

Thanks for your valued support throughout the year.

We are very sorry to announce that our Terminal 5 Office in Heathrow will be permanently closing in January 2018.

This is due to our transition onto a more advanced online platform which will now offer our members an alternative method of accessing your accounts.

• New online account management: You can now access your account by creating one simple password. Here you'll be able to apply for a loan, request share withdrawals and view your live and available balances. Click here to request access.
• Mobile App: Once you have registered for our new online account management, you will then also have access to login via our new mobile app available for download on iOS and Google Play. Download today by clicking the relevant link below:

If you need any other assistance, we are continuing to operate at our office near Heathrow at: The Barn, Manor Lane, Harlington, Middlesex UB3 5EQ.

We are open Monday to Friday, 8.30am-4.00pm.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

Many thanks,

The Plane Saver Team.

Plane Saver are currently seeking three volunteer trustees to oversee the Friends of Plane Saver lottery.

The role will involve:

• Selecting the lottery winner as part of the monthly draw
• Collectively agreeing the operational procedures of the Lottery
• Collectively shall meet at least once a quarter

If you are interested to be part of one of the UK’s largest credit unions and expand your experience within Financial Services or a community organisation we would like to hear from you.

To express your interest in becoming a Trustee please contact info@planesaver.co.uk of for more information please contact our team on 020 8607 5020.

Thanks for your support.

The Plane Saver Team

www.planesavercu.co.uk

Plane Saver is pleased to announce our 'Personal Loan' Product has been awarded a 5 star rating from the Fairbanking Foundation.

The Fairbanking Foundation is a not-for-profit, research-based charity created to encourage and assist providers of banking products to improve the financial well-being of their members. The 5 star Fairbanking Mark was awarded to our ‘Personal Loan’ Product, because of some of the following features:

• Our loans provide members with a budget planning tool to work out whether they can afford to repay the loan.
• Members can repay their loan early without a fee or charge.
• We encourage members to save simultaneously alongside any loan, creating a savings habit and providing an incentive to further saving when the loan is completed.
• If a member misses a payment they are encouraged to take action if finding payment difficult.

Valerie Walwyn, Plane Saver Credit Union CEO, says;
“It’s a great achievement for everyone involved at Plane Saver and a reflection of the hard work we do to ensure our members are provided first class lending products, tailored to suit their needs and improve their financial well-being.”

About The Fairbanking Foundation
The Fairbanking Foundation was established in 2008 to encourage and assist providers of banking products to improve the financial well-being of their customers by enabling them to manage their money better.
You can learn more about the Fairbanking Foundation via: fairbanking.org.uk/

Thanks for your support.

Thanks to all those members who attended our Annual General Meeting (2015/16) held last week. Here's a quick review of key matters arising for all those who were unable to. Dividends Announced

• 1% Dividend was agreed and has been paid on Regular, Christmas and Junior Savings Accounts.
• Projected dividends for the Cash ISA will be announced in April 2017 and the Platinum Saver in October 2017.
• No dividend will be paid on the Flexi Saver.

Loan Interest Rebate

• 5% rebate on loan interest paid by members in the last financial year (2015/16) was agreed with a view to reward those members who chose to borrow from Plane Saver rather than other financial providers.
• This rebate is now available for members to withdraw from the Flexi Saver.

Re-elections

• Ian Atkins, June Parsons and Sunni Coupe were re-elected to the Board of Directors.
• The Board of Directors also welcomed Roger Hardman who was co-opted onto the Board in late 2016. Roger is currently Head of Welfare at Armed Forces Charity SSAFA so brings a wealth of experience and insight with regard to our relationship with the Armed Forces.
• It was also an opportunity for the Board to introduce Dave Sharman, who was co-opted to the Board in early 2016. Dave moved to the UK in 2013 and has since worked at British Airways in a number of financial management roles, most recently leading BA's overseas finance department.

Finally a special mention to Grantley Yearwood, who stood down as Chairman of Plane Saver after a period of 10 years volunteering with the Credit Union.

On behalf of everyone associated with Plane Saver we would like to thank him for his hard work and dedication to the Credit Union over the years and wish him all the best for the future.

If you have any queries about any of the above items please contact our team via the details provided below.

Thanks for your support and enjoy the festive break.

From Wednesday 2nd November 2016, British Airways has become the first airline to join the UK Armed Forces Covenant and will be offering a 10 per cent discount to the armed forces.

Plane Saver joined the Covenant 21st April 2016 and received the Bronze Award for the part we have played in helping to tackle financial exclusion within the armed forces.

Payday loans may seem like the ideal quick fix but it can be more harm than good as they offer short term lending with very high interest rates but these companies have decreased by as much as 70 per cent after a crackdown from the financial watchdog.

Around 1.8 million loans were issued last year which is down from ten million from three years earlier.

Credit unions are responsible lenders, offer lower APR rates and check members affordability to help you stay away from uncontrollable debt.

For more information on our loans, visit: Loans Overview

It has been estimated that people that have not benefited from the 'Bank of Mum & Dad' could have to save around 121 years to raise a mortgage deposit for a property in their area.

At Plane Saver, we offer a Help-to Buy loan which can help top up your mortgage deposit faster.

Plane Saver has helped an MOD serviceman save £254 on their monthly loan repayments. You may also be able to save.