Skibbereen and Bandon Credit Union has launched a new product for farmers known as the Agri Credit Rural Enterprise (ACRE) initiative.

This new scheme will offer farmers short- to medium-term loans up to €50,000 on an unsecured basis for a variety of purposes, such as working capital, livestock purchase, farm development and farm machinery purchase. These loans will be offered with an interest rate of 5.99%.

As part of the ACRE initiative, Skibbereen and Bandon Credit Union has partnered with a fintech company called Visualyze, whose software allows the Credit Union to project the borrowing capacity of the farmer.

Donal O’Driscoll, CEO of Skibbereen and Bandon Credit Union, said the software system allows the credit union to develop a business plan and projections based on information supplied by the farmer.

Credit unions in Galway, Mayo, Clare and Limerick have also recently started offering farmers unsecured loans of up to €50,000, with interest rates on these loans at 6.7%. These farm loans are part of the Credit Union’s “Cultivate” scheme.