Savings Account
Why Save?
Salary/Pension Deduction
Flexible loans at competitive rates
Easy access to services by phone and online
Free life protection on savings and loans
No hidden charges
Things to know about your savings account:
All members hold a saver account with Comhar Linn INTO Credit Union, this is known as a Special Share Account. Saving with the credit union is a little different from saving with other financial institutions. Your money is invested in helping yourself and fellow members to borrow at competitive interest rates.
- Savings are called shares
- Each share is equal to €1
- Minimum of €5 in account to be a member
- Earn an annual dividend, proportionate to number of shares over the financial year
- Dividends rate is determined by surplus funds and approved by members at AGM at the end of the financial year
- Dividend is liable for DIRT (Deposit Interest Retention Tax)
- Currently a Maximum of €50,000 Maximum reducing to €40,000 from 1st June 2022
- Joint accounts are available
- Online Card Payments
Savings Cap
Comhar Linn INTO is the place where teachers borrow. We exist for teachers. When you join Comhar Linn, you help us to continue to support teachers.
The ethos of the credit union embraces the strength, of “people helping people”, yet we know every member is unique, just like us. For as long as our members need loans and other financial services, we will be there for you.
To help us to continue to support teachers, we are informing our members of an important change we will be implementing, with effect from the 1st of June 2022, we will be reducing our savings cap from €50,000 to €40,000.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
Below are more details on the Savings Cap; we hope that any questions you have are addressed within the FAQ section, but if not please feel free to contact us with your query.
The Savings Cap is the maximum level of savings you can hold as a member in your Regular or Special Share Account with us. This cap will reduce from €50,000 to €40,000.
The new cap will take on effect on 1st June 2022.
Our guiding principle in making this decision was to protect the long-term best interest of all members while ensuring we remain operationally sound.
Saving statistics at Comhar Linn:
- Members’ savings during the most recent financial year (2020/21) increased by 8.01% from the prior year (2019/20).
- We now hold savings in excess of €252 million in our CU.
- We have experienced strong growth in member savings over the past number of years.
- This member savings growth, when combined with a very low interest rate environment, has put pressure on our ability to generate sufficient capital to maintain our regulatory requirements set out by the Central Bank of Ireland.
For every €100,000 our members have saved with us, we must allocate €10,000 from our surplus to our reserve. The cost of meeting this Central Bank requirement has resulted in many credit unions introducing limits on the amount of savings members can hold in the credit union.
The credit union is required to maintain a Regulatory Reserve that supports the credit union’s operations, provides a base for future growth and protects against the risk of unforeseen losses. The credit union needs to maintain sufficient reserves to ensure continuity and to protect members’ savings.
While this should be good news it is greatly overshadowed by the low-performing investment environment available to us.
Comhar Linn invests member’s savings prudently ensuring their protection, but the returns on savings and investments are minimal due to continuing low interest rates, including, in some cases, negative interest rates.
The cap has been set at a high level so it will impact as few members as possible. Approximately 1,300 members are impacted by the cap of €40,000 which represents a relatively small percentage of our 25,000+ membership.
All existing members with savings over €40,000 will receive a refund of the excess funds and will no longer be able to add to their savings.
Members are welcome to continue to save with us, up to the €40,000 limit.
We will refund the amount that exceeds the cap via cheque or electronic fund transfer to your validated bank account.
Whilst a Credit Union may not provide investment advice to members in relation to returned funds, you may be aware that there are financial advisors that provide advisory services to INTO and RTAI members.
The Savings Cap will be reviewed on a regular basis and judged on its effectiveness and impact on members. Members will be informed if any further changes are made to the Savings Cap.
It is too early to determine what rate of dividend, if any, the credit union will pay out. We will communicate with members directly to inform them of the dividend once we are in a position to do so.
The cap is at account level.
A member may have up to €40,000 in each account they hold with us.
The cap applies to:
o Regular Share Accounts
o Special Share Accounts
No, we have excluded:
o Current Account
o Budget Account
o Club Account
o Existing Saver Loan Account
No, the cap will not apply to:
o Deceased accounts
o Dormant accounts
The cap will apply and any funds in excess of €40,000 will be returned to the member.
Yes, we are implementing a monthly lodgement limit of €10,000 to each account in each calendar month. Any funds in excess of €10,000 will be rejected and returned to the member.
Yes. Due to the growth in savings over recent years, we have significant funds available to lend to members.
All savings are secure. We are a financially strong and stable credit union and your savings continue to be guaranteed by the Government Deposit Guarantee Scheme up to €100,000.
No, quite the opposite in fact. Due to this growth in savings over recent years, we have significant funds available to lend to members.
No. The savings cap is in line with recent similar moves by the majority of Credit Unions.
Life Savings Insurance
In the event of a member’s death an insurance payment related to your share balance will be paid by our insurance company, CUNA Mutual. The amount is related to your age when depositing the shares, and can be as much as twice the amount you have saved in your account.
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