We consider all loan applications. We have a system for assessing loan eligibility, and one of the most important things to us is whether we evaluate that you can afford to pay back the loan. If this is the case, we may offer you the loan.

We will run a credit check with TransUnion when you apply. It will be a hard search that will leave a footprint on your credit report.

Sometimes, we may insist that a joint application is made before we approve a loan. This option will be offered to eligible applicants, and In these circumstances, both parties will be jointly and severally responsible for repaying the loan.

You don't need a bank account to get a loan from us, as you can access your loan in other ways. You can collect a cheque from our offices or apply for a prepaid debit card. We can load the loan onto the prepaid card and use it as you would use a debit card.

If we can approve your loan, the funds could be with you within as little as 24 hours of our decision. We aim to get back to you within three working days with our decision or ask you to provide more information if needed.

Our loans can be repaid in several ways, including by Standing Order, Child Benefit, or by salary deductions via your employer. We will agree on a repayment method that works best for you.

Depending on the payment method we agree on, we may ask that you make an initial loan payment, for example, a payment by Standing Order to demonstrate a link between your bank account and ours.

Whilst membership to Boom is free, you will need to make a £5 deposit into your savings to activate your membership so that we can open your account before issuing a loan.

In some cases will need to see bank statements. The quickest and easiest way to review your statements is by Open Banking. If we need to review your statements, we will invite you to sign up for Open Banking when you complete the online application or shortly after you submit your application.

Open Banking gives Boom Community Bank temporary, secure read-only access to your account statements. We will never ask you for your online banking details.

If we can approve your application, in most cases, we will transfer the money directly to your bank account.

You can pay back your loan by Standing Order, Child Benefit or payroll deduction with the cooperation of your employer.

You can make extra payments whenever you like, which may reduce the interest you pay overall. Please remember that you must also continue to pay the minimum contractual amount under the Credit Agreement, even if you make additional payments at other intervals.

We never add fees or penalties if you pay your loan early. We calculate and apply interest on your loan daily rather than front-load it, so the sooner you pay off your loan, the less interest you will pay overall.

We understand that sometimes unexpected things can affect your ability to pay. Please get in touch with us as soon as possible if you think you will struggle to make a payment. Please maintain the contractual payments under the Credit Agreement to maintain your credit profile. If you fall behind on repayments and we cannot speak with you about it, we may take legal action; however, this is a last resort.

We may be able to offer you a debt consolidation loan. We have many examples where we have saved our customers' money by consolidating debt with a loan with a lower interest rate.

You can apply to top up your loan if you have already paid back at least half of the amount you initially borrowed. It's worth bearing in mind that a top-up to your loan may increase your repayments; therefore, we will need to complete a full affordability assessment to decide. If you want to top up your loan, apply online, providing your member number when prompted.

We aim to help our members build financial resilience; therefore, as a rule, anyone who takes out a loan will save some as they pay it back. Repayments consist of two parts: loan repayment and savings contribution. The savings will accumulate in your Member Account; you can only access them when you have repaid the loan in full.

You don't have to open a savings account before you borrow. Apply for a loan, and we'll simultaneously set up a savings account.

The contribution to savings is usually twenty per cent of your loan repayments. We may adjust this to ensure that the repayment is affordable.

If we pay out a dividend, it will be on all your savings, including the savings accumulating as you repay your loan. We pay dividends straight into your savings account.

APR stands for Annual Percentage Rate. The APR lets you know how much a loan will cost you over an average year. It includes the interest you will pay as well as any fees over that year. All lenders need to let you know what their APR is so that you can compare loans.

We have a range of loans for various financial circumstances and credit backgrounds, and the interest rates are variable from eight to forty-three per cent APR. The cost of your loan will also depend on how much you borrow and how long you take to pay it back.

Common reasons for a loan not being approved include:

• Geographic Limitations: Our services are available to residents and employees of specific areas, including Berkshire, South Oxfordshire, Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, West Sussex, and East Hampshire.
• Credit History: Limited or no credit history can pose challenges in assessing your creditworthiness.
• Affordability: Your income may not cover the loan payments and other expenses adequately.
• Debt-to-Income Ratio: High monthly debt payments relative to your income can impact approval.
• Low Credit Score: A history of late payments or defaults may result in a low credit score.
• Recent Missed Payments: Negative marks like missed payments or defaults can affect approval.
  Open Banking Access: Inaccessibility to bank statements through Open Banking might hinder our assessment.
• Document Requirements: Failure to provide requested or satisfactory documents can delay or prevent approval.

Access to our service is limited to people who meet specific criteria, known as our Common Bond. You can join Boom Community Bank if you are 16 or over and live or work in the following areas:

• East Hampshire (Basingstoke and Deane, Hart, and Rushmoor Districts)
• Kingston upon Thames
• Surrey
• South Bucks and Wycombe Districts
• South Oxfordshire District
• West Sussex

Employees of Legal & General Group and tenants and employees of Paragon Asra Housing (PA Housing) may also apply.

Membership to Boom Community Bank is free. You will automatically become a member when you take out a loan, start saving or open a current account. Fees and other charges may apply depending on the products you take out, such as interest on a loan or transaction fees on current accounts.

When processing your loan application or setting up your savings account, we will ask you to provide additional proof of your identity and address.

Proof of Identity 

You can use these to prove your identity:

• A passport
• UK driving license or UK blue disabled driver's pass ((photocards)
• UK Old style driving licence
• National ID card or EU Member State photo ID card
• Biometric Residence permit (BRP)
• Home Office travel documents
• UK Armed Forces ID card

ID documents with an expiration date must be current and valid at the time of application. If you use a driving licence as proof of your identity, you must provide a different document to prove your place of residence, even if your current address is the same as displayed on the driving licence.  For those under 18, a birth certificate and valid Passport or Young Scot National Entitlement Card must be provided. 

Proof of Residence  

You can use these to prove your residence address:

• Council tax, gas, electricity or water bill from the past three months
• A building society, credit card or bank statement from the past three months
• A tax assessment or HMRC letter
• A photographic ID, such as a driving licence
• Council rent card
• A mortgage statement
• Private tenancy agreement
• Certificate of voter registration
• An official letter from a UK solicitor, Benefits Agency, Pensions Service, JobCentre Plus or the DVLA.

There are other types of documents that we may be able to accept on a case-by-case basis.

Documents we CAN'T accept as proof of residence are: 

• Mobile telephone bills and contracts
• Documents displaying a PO Box, business address or the address of a forwarding service
• An otherwise valid document in a different name
• A 'mini' bank statement

When you join Boom Community Bank, you will receive a Membership Number that will be unique to your Member Account. Your Member Account is a deposit account perfect for regular savings. You can have up to four individual sub-accounts to save for different things. if you take a loan your repayments are received in your Member Account, from where you can check your balance and transactions and account statements.

You can pay into your member Account via Standing Order, directly from your salary, or by debit card, and You can manage and withdraw money using our mobile app or online banking. Our Membership Accounts don't have a debit card or features like direct debits. They don't have account numbers or sort codes; however, we can provide these facilities via our partner Engage.

Read more about making a deposit here

Read more about Engage here

If you move or work out of the area after joining Boom, you can remain a member and continue to apply for our services.

You will need your Membership Number and a secure PIN to log in. We will ask you to verify some digits of your PIN. If you don't have a PIN, you first need to register for Online Banking.

Register for Online Banking

Forgotten PIN form

On your initial registration for online banking, we will send you a temporary PIN that you can change to something you will remember when you log in for the first time. For the security of your account, we will issue a PIN that is six digits long. You must not share your PIN with anyone.

We have a secure process to verify your identity and mobile phone number. We will complete a verification process before issuing a temporary PIN by text message (SMS). You must change the temporary PIN within 24 hours of receipt, so please log in as soon as possible after receiving the SMS. We recommend you delete the text message containing your temporary PIN after successfully logging in and changing it.

You will need to send another PIN request. We'll send another temporary PIN to your registered mobile.

Request PIN form

It is often an input error during the login process that prevents access to Online Banking. Before contacting us, please follow these three steps:

1. The system will never ask you to input all six digits of your PIN, only a combination of three. Please be sure to enter the correct corresponding number in the respective box.
2. Check that you are entering the correct Membership Number. You can find your Membership number on your welcome letter, account statement, or credit agreement.
3. Please ensure that you enter your date of birth in the DD/MM/YYYY format.

Please get in touch if you need help logging in after completing the above steps.

Contact Us

There are two sections to our Online Banking platform. The first is the 'Member Area', where you will find documents relating to the organisation and your membership, such as our Rulebook.

The second area, 'Your Account', is the most secure. You will need to input your PIN to access this section, as it gives you access to your personal information, transaction history, and funds. Once inside Your Account, you can view and download account statements and request withdrawals and fund transfers.

Our Online Banking system is a secure portal from which you can move funds within your account (inter-account transfers). You can also send money to someone else or pay utilities (external account transfers).

An online debit card payment is the quickest and most secure way to deposit funds into your account. You can also make additional one-off loan repayments this way.

You can't use a credit card to pay other debts. If you are worried about your next loan repayment, please get in touch with us as soon as possible.

Contact us

You can deposit money into your account by debit card using Online Banking, debit card over the telephone by calling us, cheque, and BACS transfer. To save a regular amount, set up a Standing Order.

You will need the following information to deposit into your savings account.

MEMBERSHIP NUMBER

You can find your membership number on the original welcome letter, account statement and credit agreement.

Member Number Reminder form

DEPOSIT REFERENCE NUMBER

Please reference all deposits with your membership number, followed by your first initial, surname, and then S1, S2, S3, or S4, depending on which savings sub-account you would like us to lodge the funds.

For example, 1234AMEMBERS1

Please reference each deposit with the correct deposit reference number and get in touch if you are in doubt.

Contact us

OUR BANK DETAILS

Please send your deposits to:

Name of bank: The Co-operative Bank

Account Holder: WSSCU LTD CAPITAL

Sort Code: 08-92-99

Account Number: 65313363

Your deposit will be allocated to your savings account the following day after receiving your funds.

CHEQUES

Please send cheques payable to West Sussex & Surrey Credit Union Ltd. to 17 Liverpool Gardens, Worthing, West Sussex, BN11 1RY, writing your address and membership number on the back.

View live account balances and download statements by registering for Online Banking. Alternatively, use the online form to ask us to mail a statement.

Register for Online Banking

Request Statement form

Other than any savings deposited as part of a loan arrangement, you can withdraw your savings at any time. Loan-linked savings only become available to withdraw when the loan is fully repaid.

Linked savings or attached savings are savings that accumulate as a loan is repaid. You will only have linked savings if you take out a loan.

You can instruct us to transfer your funds internally within your account or externally to someone else or a bill by logging into Online Banking. You can also use the mobile app to withdraw and manage your money.

We can't accept withdrawal requests by email. We recommend sending your withdrawal request via Online Banking or the mobile app for security and to help prevent fraud.

Upon receipt of your withdrawal request, we will transfer the funds by BACS transfer. If we receive your request by 3.30 pm Monday to Friday, your funds will arrive at 5:00 pm the same day. However, bank transfer times are not guaranteed. Even when everything goes smoothly, you should allow up to two hours, rarely longer. Delays are more likely if you are transferring large amounts or if your bank detects patterns of activity that are unusual for you. If this happens, they may carry out extra checks to ensure it is you to prevent fraud and other types of financial crime.

We can't pay out in cash; however, we can send a cheque.

You can withdraw up to £5,000 daily using the online banking system. Please get in touch if you want to take out more than this. Withdrawals over £15,000 will be split into daily transfers up to £15,000 until the requested amount is reached. For example, a £30,000 withdrawal will be completed over two days.

An e-statement is an electronic version of your account statement. It is formatted as a traditional statement but is available as a portable document format file (PDF) via the online banking section of our website.

E-statements are more secure than receiving a statement via traditional mail. The statement is stored on our secure servers and is only accessible via online banking. Your statements are available as soon as they are generated instead of needing to wait for mail delivery.

Since the e-statement is provided to you as a portable document format (PDF) file, you can use your PDF viewer software to save a copy of the statement to your local computer. You can then back it up electronically for archival purposes. You can also print the statement on your local computer and archive the paper copy. As with all online banking and personal information, you should ensure your computer is secure, with up-to-date virus protection.

Yes. The e-statement is delivered as a PDF file which you can print on your local printer.

You will need a PDF viewer program. You probably already have one installed. One of the most commonly used programs is Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available to download for free.

Adobe Acrobat Reader is one example of a PDF reader program. To view your e-statements you will need this or another PDF reader program installed on your computer. These programs are generally available for free download via the web.

You can download Adobe Acrobat Reader from the Adobe website.

If you want a paper statement, contact the office, and we can mail one.

Request an account statement

We will ask for proof of your address and photographic ID for all membership and loan applications. We may need other documents, depending on the products you take out. Read further guidance  here.