On Monday 9 June, representatives from Abcul – the Association of British Credit Unions – were among those attending a reception for co-operators at Number 10.
Hosted by secretary of state for business and trade, Jonathan Reynolds, the event acknowledged the increasingly important role co-operatives and mutuals play in British society. It also marked serious confirmation that the government remains committed to its ambitious manifesto pledge to double the size of the sector – and that financial institutions like credit unions are being recognised as essential to building a more resilient economy.
The gathering was particularly auspicious for Abcul’s new CEO Matt Bland, who had officially taken up his role just a few days earlier. Bland first joined Abcul in 2009 as head of policy and communications and later became CEO of the Co-op Credit Union (now the Money Co-op).
“Coming into this role is exciting as it is a time of real opportunity for the sector to achieve some meaningful support from government to expand and grow,” he says. “The manifesto commitment was to double the size of the co-op and mutual sector – and the reception was linked to that agenda. There were representatives from the largest co-op businesses, along with trade associations, mutuals and credit unions.
“Last year the Mutuals and Co-operative Business Council was formed by the chancellor in response to its commitment, and each of our sectors is currently working on a set of proposals and policy recommendations geared toward realising this. Alongside that, the government is developing a financial inclusion strategy, which has a lot of relevance for credit unions.”
Abcul, one the apex bodies representing credit unions across Great Britain, officially formed in 1984, evolving from the Credit Union League of Great Britain to advocate, provide training and support sustainable growth.
It represents around 70% of British credit unions, playing a key role in lobbying government, shaping policy and promoting the credit union movement in the media.
During his first 10 years at Abcul, Bland was instrumental in delivering significant sector-wide gains, including securing a proportionate regulatory framework and driving legislative reform.
As new CEO, he is hoping to build on this foundation – championing innovation, enhancing member services, and shaping a bold future for the organisation and wider sector.
“Having spent much of my career advocating the values, resilience, and potential of credit unions, I’m passionate about the unique role we play in supporting members and communities,” he says.
Related: Can the credit union movement seize the day?
“With the right vision and investment, credit unions can be at the forefront of inclusive, ethical finance in Great Britain. My focus will be on accelerating sustainable growth, ensuring we continue to deliver exceptional value to our members. That means embracing technology, strengthening governance, and building new partnerships – while staying true to our co-operative principles.”
Historically, the UK credit union sector has been much less successful than in other parts of the world, such as the US, which has 100 times as many members.
Two big issues for credit unions in Britain are digitisation and the scale of operations. Many are simply not big enough to offer some of the services members now expect. Challenger banks like Revolut are also beginning to eat into credit unions’ market share. In the US, this problem is addressed through cusos – credit union service organisations – which are set up by credit unions to provide back-up support on a bigger scale.
Bland agrees that cusos can help address many challenges. “Credit unions are operating in a more competitive market than ever before,” he says. “The digitisation challenge is how to keep up with the latest technology and expectations. Mobile banking and innovations like Revolut, Monzo and the wider fintech sector have revolutionised expectations; we need to keep up with that to stay relevant.
“Our focus is trying to deliver collaborative solutions like cusos, which are very prominent in other parts of the world like the US, Australia and Canada, where organisations have a shared infrastructure so credit unions can share and pool resources.
“Here in the UK we could also take on new opportunities such as car finance, which, so far, we have not taken advantage of.”
Bland hopes to capitalise on the positive changes to credit union legislation which came into force under the Financial Services and Markets Act in 2023. Other priorities include reforming the common bond rule which restricts who can join in a specific area.
“Abcul has been pushing for reforms to increase the cap on locality-based membership (currently 3 million potential members), which limits growth and complicates mergers,” he says. “We have already seen significant consolidation.
“At one time there were 700 credit unions; this is now 250 and that trend will only continue.
The common bond limits our potential and we could raise the cap to something quite a lot bigger – however we don’t want to remove it altogether as it is one of the things which makes a credit union different.”
With the rise of online banking, credit unions around the world are also increasingly vulnerable to cyberattacks. In 2023 alone, there was a 25% increase in cybersecurity incidents at UK credit unions.
“This is a top priority,” says Bland, “and something we take very seriously which is why we need to work collaboratively towards more integrated services.”
Back in 2017 Abcul pioneered the Model Credit Union project, aiming to integrate IT systems under one core banking platform and mobile app as part of a government drive to expand the sector. Several credit unions signed up with plans for a major roll-out but the initiative stalled due to digital and other challenges.
“We don’t want to try to do that again in that particular way because it was too top-down,” adds Bland, “but it’s given us the insight of what we are about which is enabling credit unions to create solutions for themselves. We still want to provide the wherewithal to the sector via investment to drive digitisation.
“We can also provide the conditions within which solutions can come from the sector and provide opportunities for investment to come in and help credit unions find out exactly what they need.”
Bland has praise for projects like Sound Pound, a group of credit unions serving Greater Manchester offering everything from loans and financial services to better deals on bus fares.
“We need to improve and deepen the level of engagement we have,” he says. “I have a number of ideas about broadening our horizons, we have perhaps been too inward looking. The world is changing rapidly and we need to be plugged into engagement with members, building a sense of collective endeavour, supporting innovation and looking at how we deliver services and improve our digital connection.
“I want Abcul to be challenging credit unions to be more ambitious and provide a more focussed leadership around our vision and how we get there. We have got such an opportunity, but I am concerned that opportunity might not last as long as we need it to. We can’t afford to delay, and we need to grasp these opportunities as much as we can.”
