I thank the Deputy for his question. Credit unions in Ireland are regulated and supervised under the Credit Union Act, 1997 (the 1997 Act) and regulations issued by the Central Bank, which set out the framework for the registration, regulation and operation of credit unions including detailed governance and prudential requirements.
Credit union current accounts
The 1997 Act and the Credit Union Act 1997 (Regulatory Requirements) Regulations 2016 (the 2016 Regulations) set out the services that credit unions may provide to their members. These include loans and savings under the 1997 Act and a further suite of services under the 2016 Regulations such as third party payments; ATM services; bureau de change and certain insurance services on an agency basis.
Where a credit union wishes to provide other services to its members, an application may be made to the Central Bank for approval to provide such services in accordance with the provisions set out in sections 48-52 of the 1997 Act. One such additional service is the Member Personal Current Account Service (MPCAS), under which approved credit unions may offer personal current accounts with debit cards, overdrafts and a wide range of payment services within an appropriate risk framework.
Move to single credit union current account brand
Until very recently, credit unions providing current account services have provided these under one of two separate brands – ‘MYCU’ and ‘Current Account from your Credit Union’ - each supported by different service providers. Those credit unions who previously operated under the ‘MYCU’ brand have now moved to the ‘Current Account from your Credit Union’ brand and supporting service providers, including a new card issuer. The new card issuer is not authorised to issue cards to members of the credit unions who are working in the State but resident in Northern Ireland. This specific matter is relevant to a small number of credit unions and credit union members and is not related to debit cards issued by banks.
It is my understanding that impacted customers have been notified by their credit unions, who have advised them to seek an alternative debit card solution as soon as possible.
More generally, in respect of the provision by EEA financial services firms, including card issuers, of services in the UK, a temporary permissions regime (TPR) was established in the UK by the UK Government to enable relevant EEA firms and funds who were using the passporting regime to transition to the UK full regulatory regime post Brexit. The TPR will end on 31 December 2023; however relevant firms that wanted to apply for full authorisation in the UK were required to do so by 31 December 2022.
