SJCU Celebrates 68th Birthday
The St. John’s Credit Union has been in existence for over sixty years and today across from its headquarters on Basra Street in Belize City, the lending institution celebrated its sixty-eighth birthday. To commemorate the milestone, the institution put off a fair showcasing various businesses, including various health agencies and departments as well as the services they offer to the public. General Manager, Daisy Dawson has been working with the organization for the past thirty years; she spoke to News Five about the growth of the credit union and the services it offers to its twenty thousand plus members.
Daisy Dawson, General Manager, St. John’s Credit Union Ltd.
Daisy Dawson
“We have come a long way. As you can see it is sixty-eight years of service to Belize. And today what we are having is an outreach fair and we have participation of several N.G.O.s who are partners in the movement. We have the scouts and the girl guides association, we have the Belize Family Life Association, Medical Associates, the Police Department, Belize Credit Union League and several other N.G.O.s are here with us today. And so the idea is to ensure that they are imparting information from the youths right up to the elderly. And so the elderly can come out as well to get free blood pressure check up, glucose testing, body mass and do their sugar testing as well. When you go to the Medical Associates booth, you are also abel to get discounted prices on certain tests that you need to get down.”
Duane Moody
“Fair aside, it is all about the St. John’s Credit. Tell us about the growth that the credit that the credit union has experienced in the sixty-eight years.”
Daisy Dawson
“When St. John originally started or when I started to work with them in 1984, we had an asset base of less than a million dollars. And so sixty-eight years later, we are at sixty million in assets and in over twenty thousand in membership. And we have accomplished quite a lot. When you look at the services we are providing. We have online banking, ATM services. You can see us on Facebook, on Twitter, Instagram. We have our website that is always being updated so you can go and get information. When you look at the loan products we are providing; that means we are making great strides. Last year, we made a bold step in respect of residential mortgage, where we reduced the rate from twelve percent to eight percent and that is guaranteed for the life of the loan and that has been going quite well for us. So we have been making strides. We have been answering to the member’s need, the services that they require and we continue to do that.”
As side from Belize City, St. John’s Credit Union currently has branches in Belmopan and Dangriga.
