The Penny Post Group

Posted on Feb 01, 2022

On Tuesday 1st February 2022, Voyager Alliance and Retail CU officially became part of the Penny Post Group. A warm welcome to all members from the Directors and staff of the Penny Post Group!

With a combined membership of 19,500 members, accumulated savings of £47.6 million and a loan book of approximately £21.4 million, the new Penny Post Group is now amongst the largest credit unions in the UK.

The Penny Post Team based at the Wolverhampton office will continue to focus on serving Penny Post members, whilst the Team in Manchester will be serving Voyager Alliance and Retail CU members.

The opportunity of a lifetime

Penny Post has ambitious growth plans and has been considering options to expand for some time.

Last summer, Voyager Alliance Credit Union, which Retail CU is part of, approached Penny Post asking if we would like to accept a Transfer of Engagements to give both credit unions the opportunity to jointly expand their business and product range to the benefit of all members.

Voyage Alliance has many similarities with Penny Post, in that it serves working members through payroll deduction schemes across public transport, the DWP and the retail sector.

After careful consideration, the Penny Post Board felt this was a great opportunity for Penny Post, and fits with our strategy to grow membership, our loan book and offer a wider range of products and services to members. There’s unlikely to be such an opportunity again.

Business Improvement focused

Over the past 18 months Penny Post has undertaken a programme of business improvement across its loan process, decision-making and all areas of customer service. 98% of loan applications are now processed on the day they are received, and we’ve reduced the cost of bad debt by £250,000 in the last 12 months alone, so we can be highly confident that all of our lending decisions are made in the best interests of our members.

We have built very strong foundations to expand Penny Post and are committed to investment in our Team and Technology to benefit all our members, improve the return we pay to savers, expand our range of loan products and interest rates, and improve our members’ online experience with market-leading new technology.

A bright future

Following Special General Meetings in October and November members of Voyager Alliance and Penny Post Credit Union voted by a large majority, to accept the Transfer of Engagements of Voyager Alliance Credit Union (including Retail CU) to Penny Post Credit Union, creating the Penny Post Group.

This is a great opportunity for the Penny Post Group combined membership, and we’re looking forward to a bright future ahead. We have a number of new products and services launching shortly and are committed in investing further in our Team and technology to improve the overall service to all our loyal members.

Voyager Alliance and Retail CU will be trading names of Penny Post Credit Union Ltd. The Voyager Alliance Team based at the Manchester office will continue to focus on serving Voyager Alliance and Retail CU members, whilst the Team in Wolverhampton will be serving Penny Post members.

Penny Post Credit Union is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority. Reg No. FRN213680