The credit union, priced honestly
Nearly every Irish town has one, membership runs in families, and the trust is earned. The savings rate is not the reason to be there: most credit unions pay a dividend of somewhere between nothing and 1%, and there is no table we could honestly build from 190 of them each declaring their own.
Dividends are not interest
A credit union does not promise a rate. It takes the year's surplus, and the members vote at the AGM on what dividend to declare on shares. Recent years have mostly produced 0% to 1%, and some credit unions cap total savings per member because excess deposits cost them money. The tax is the same as a bank: 33% DIRT, deducted at source, since the special share accounts closed to new money in 2013.
What you actually get for the low rate
The honest ledger has real entries on both sides. Life Savings insurance can pay your estate an extra sum related to your savings at no direct cost. Loan access is often faster and more humane than a bank's, and loan interest rebates land in good years. The credit union is a fine place for the community, the insurance and the borrowing relationship.
Where the arithmetic points
For savings beyond a working float, the gap is stark: €10,000 at a 0.5% dividend earns €50 before DIRT, while the same money at the top of our table earns over €300, or DIRT-free at State Savings. Keep the membership, keep a float, and let the rest of the money work where it is actually paid.
Questions Irish savers actually ask
- What interest do credit unions pay on savings?
- Most pay a dividend of 0% to 1%, declared once a year after the AGM, and some cap the savings they accept. There is no national rate: each of the roughly 190 credit unions sets its own, so the only real answer is your own credit union’s last declared dividend.
- Are credit union savings protected?
- Yes. Credit unions are covered by the same Irish Deposit Guarantee Scheme as banks, €100,000 per person per institution.
- Do I pay DIRT on credit union savings?
- Yes. Dividends and interest from credit unions are taxed at the 33% DIRT rate, deducted before you are paid, exactly like a bank. The old tax-advantaged share accounts closed to new money in 2013.
- Is there insurance on credit union savings?
- Many credit unions provide Life Savings insurance at no direct cost, an extra payment to your estate related to your savings if you die, subject to age and terms. It is a genuine benefit banks do not offer, and it is the honest counterweight to the low dividend.