Where do the profits really go?
At Savings & Loans it’s easy to see where our profits go: back into opening new branches, keeping fees and charges fair and setting fair interest rates. We don’t have shareholders to consider, so we can focus on the needs of our members.
People buy shares in banks to earn money for themselves, which isn’t necessarily in the best interests of the bank’s customers. So instead of a new branch or more staff to help you manage your account, some of the profits of a bank go to investors.
How much profit is enough?
So if Savings & Loans doesn’t need to make money for shareholders, why do we need to make profits at all? It would be irresponsible for us not to make profits and it would have some serious consequences in terms of our legal obligations and our commitment to act in members’ interests.
Making appropriate profits helps us attract new members and make sure we continue to put our members first.
If you don’t need to pay out money to shareholders then you shouldn’t charge fees, right?
We still need to charge certain fees to cover our expenses and make a reasonable profit, which we're legally obliged to do. Remember that all of our profits are reinvested into the credit union and are used to provide benefits to members
