The Scottish Agricultural Organisation Society (SAOS) is working with stakeholders, including Alexander Sloan, to look at the feasibility of setting up a Credit Union for the farming and rural communities in Scotland.
While a number of Credit Unions cover rural communities there are none at present specifically for the rural and farming community as a whole in Scotland. In other countries, like Canada, farming Credit Unions are a major source of finance for the farming sector. With the number of rural bank branches diminishing there is an increasing need for a similar option in this country.
A survey is currently being run to gather the views and opinions of the rural community on a new Credit Union through the following website http://www.abdn.ac.uk/saos/stakeholders.